how to create a good presentation in google slides

How To Make Google Slides Look Good [Complete 2024 Guide]

• Last updated January 2, 2024

Making a standard presentation is easy, but knowing how to make Google Slides look good is an entirely different challenge. In my guide, I will show you how to make your Google Slides better , both functionally and aesthetically.

Keep reading to learn how to take your Google Slides presentation from good to great !

Table of Contents

1. Choose a Google Slides Theme

Themes ensure your presentation has visually consistent colors, fonts, sizes, and layouts. This goes a long way toward providing a professional and polished appearance, and it’s much easier for the audience to follow along.

• Choose a theme that aligns with the tone and purpose of your presentation.
• Ensure slides have a consistent set of colors, fonts, and layouts.
• Select a visually appealing color scheme and legible font combination.

While you can handpick background color palettes, typefaces, and slide layouts, many of the best Google Slides templates are built into the program! In a blank presentation, you’ll find them on the right-hand side.

Creating Your Own Google Slides Theme

It’s fairly straightforward to create your theme in Slides. Add whatever background color, images, shapes, and page formatting you prefer. Right-click your chosen slide and select “ Add to theme .”

Related : Don’t want to make one from scratch? I’ve got you covered with some of my favorite Google Slides templates  at the bottom of this article.

How To Import a Theme to Google Slides

• Create a new presentation or open an existing one.

Note : Importing a theme into your presentation will impact all of your slides.  To revert to the previous version, use the “ Undo ” button by pressing the keyboard shortcut  Ctrl + Z  (on Windows) or use  Command + Z  (on Mac).

2. Choosing Color Schemes in Slides

A color scheme is one of the first things your audience will see, so it’s one of the most critical elements. Google Slides offers plenty of color options, including gradients  (which can be used for almost all the elements, including background, font, and shapes).

Use color theory principles  (like complementary colors) to create combinations that stand out for the right reason. Color psychology is also a great way to express emotions or convey messages purposefully:

• Warm colors (e.g., red, orange, yellow) can express warmth, energy, or even a warning.
• Cool colors (e.g., blue, green, purple) can represent relaxation, sophistication, or security.

Use Color to Make Sections Stand Out

Strategically use color to highlight essential elements (e.g., headings, critical data). To guide the audience’s attention:

• Use vibrant shades that contrast the color scheme.
• Assign specific colors to categories, sections, and team members.

Be Mindful of Contrast

Check that the text and background colors have enough contrast for better reading. The most readable combination is dark text on a light backdrop (or vice versa). In charts and graphs, use color to improve focus and understanding.

Note :  Avoid colors that can blend together or present difficulties for people with color blindness .

3. Choosing Text and Fonts

Your chosen font portrays information and dramatically improves your presentation’s overall aesthetic. If you’re trying to make a cool presentation on Google Slides, you’ve got a lot to consider!

Use Clear, Legible, and Easy-to-Read Fonts

Avoid overly decorative or ornate fonts because they can hinder readability (especially when projected on a larger screen). Stick to widely available and compatible fonts across devices like Arial, Georgia, or Open Sans.

Ensure Font Sizes, Weights, and Styles Stand out

Headings should stand out; supporting text should be smaller (or less emphasized). This is done to guide the audience’s attention and improve readability.

Note : While they can add visual interest, excessive use of font styles can be distracting and more challenging to read.

Complement Font Pairings

Select a combination of fonts  that contrast each other and create visual interest. Consider using online resources or font pairing tools for inspiration. We recommend sticking to a maximum of two to three fonts to prevent visual chaos.

Use Fonts That Align with Branding Guidelines

If your website uses a specific font and color scheme, incorporate them into your presentations to support the organization’s visual identity.

Align Text and Spacing

Align text and leave enough white space for a clean, organized look.

4. How to Add Word Art to Google Slides:

• Select “ Insert ” > “ Word Art ” from the drop-down menu.

• Type your text, then press the “ Enter ” key on your keyboard.

There you have it! Your Word Art will now appear on your selected slide.

Note: If you want to edit the font or color, click the Word Art, and a formatting box will pop up.

5. How To Add Google Slides Transitions

You can ensure seamless transitions from slide to slide with a couple of clicks:

• If you want to apply the selected transition to all slides in your presentation, click “ Apply to All Slides .”
• Any transitions applied to skipped slides won’t play during the preview.
• Click the “ Stop ” button when you’re finished.

Tip : You can configure your presentation to play automatically  using Google Slides’ automatic transitions. This removes the need to press the spacebar or click on the screen to trigger the next slide.

How Many Transitions Are Available in Google Slides?

At the time of writing, Google Slides offers seven built-in transitions . There is currently no option to add or download additional transitions.

6. How To Add Animations on Google Slides

Enhance the visual appeal of your slideshow by incorporating animations (i.e., effects that make elements move). They can be applied to almost every object, from images to tables to bullet points. Follow the steps below to add animations to your slides:

• You’ll notice that your selected object’s “ Animation Type ” is set to “ Appear .”

• Fade in : This transition introduces the object by gradually fading it in.

• Fly in from left/right or top/bottom : The object flies into the slide from one side.

• Zoom in : The object starts small and slowly increases in size.

Under “ Animation Type ,” you’ll see the “ Start Condition ” drop-down. Open it to select whether the animation should play upon clicking a slide, with the previous animation, or after the previous animation.

Note: The start conditions “With Previous” and “After Previous”  will only work if there is another animated object immediately before your selected object .

• Click on the “ Play ” button to preview your animation(s).
• Click the “ Stop ” button to end the preview and continue working on your slideshow.

Related : Google Slides vs. PowerPoint: Which Program Is Better?

Tips for Using Transitions & Animations

We recommend using these effects sparingly to emphasize essential elements or facilitate the flow of information. Avoid using them solely for decorative purposes.

Pick Subtle and Smooth Transitions

Flashy or distracting effects can overshadow your content. Your goal is to provide a seamless flow between slides. Try a simple fade or slide transition.

Adjust the Timing and Duration

Transitions shouldn’t be too fast or slow. Aim for a natural pace that allows the audience to follow along comfortably.

Highlight Specific Elements Within a Slide

Selectively animating text, images, or charts can emphasize critical points (or reveal information) in a controlled manner. Avoid excessive animation that appears gimmicky or distracting.

Be Consistent

Choose a specific transition style or animation effect — then stick to it. This will help you avoid distractions and inconsistencies.

7. Using Images and Videos

Adding images and videos to slides can greatly enhance visual appeal and engage your audience. Here are some points to consider when choosing an image:

• Choose images that are relevant to your content.
• Use high-quality images that are clear, crisp, and well-composed.
• Use images that evoke emotions or illustrate concepts.
• Strike a balance between text and images on your slides.
• Consider using images as slide backgrounds.
• Adjust transparency or apply overlays to maintain readability.
• Experiment with image formatting options (e.g., cropping, resizing, transparency, brightness).

8. How To Include Infographics in Google Slides

Infographics in a presentation can communicate complex information effectively. Use the drawing feature in Google Slides to make attractive and informative infographics. Keep these points in mind when using infographics:

• Keep your infographics clean and basic.
• Choose from bar charts, pie charts, line graphs, timelines, flowcharts, maps, and diagrams.
• Avoid overwhelming your audience: Use limited details, succinct labeling, and clear graphics.
• Use custom colors, typefaces, and visual styles to reflect your presentation or company identity.
• Highlight the most significant facts or data.
• Make sure infographic details are simple to read and understand.

How Can Poor Design Affect A Presentation?

Your presentation could be significantly impacted if you haven’t learned how to make Google Slides look professional. Here’s why:

Lack of Clarity

Poor aesthetics often make it more difficult for the audience to grasp — or focus on — details. Avoid cluttered or crowded presentations, imprecise typefaces, and insufficient color contrast. Key points might be missed, or the audience may get distracted.

Unprofessionalism

A disorganized presentation might give the appearance of being unprofessional, affecting the presenter’s credibility.

Poor Readability

Small fonts, poor contrast, and ornamental typefaces can strain the eyes and make it difficult to follow a presentation.

Lack of Visual Appeal

A presentation with a dull or unappealing design may fail to catch attention (and make the material less memorable).

9. A Few of My Favorite Google Slides Templates

If you’re not interested in using stock templates (let alone creating your own), I’ve got you covered with these slick presentations:

Ganymede Template

The Ganymede template offers a modern style with bold text for extra impact. Whether you aim to make a lasting impression with your pitch deck — or simply want to use colors that align with your brand — this template suits your needs.

Access Template

Dynamic Business Template

An effective project management report is characterized by clarity, and your color scheme plays a significant role. I love the streamlined theme of this Google Slides template and appreciate that a blank timeline chart, roadmap diagram, and funnel are included for incredible customization.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you make google slides vertical.

You can make Google Slides vertical  by following simple steps:

• Open a new or existing presentation.
• Click the “ File ” button to open a drop-down menu.
• Click the “ Page setup ” option.
• Select the “ Custom ” option and set your desired size (width and height)
• Hit “ Apply ” to save the changes.

Can You Do Hanging Indent in Google Slides?

Yes. There are three methods to do hanging indent in Google Slides:

• The ruler (blur triangle) along the top to position your hanging indent.
• The keyboard Tab key for quick indentation adjustments.
• Select “ Text Fitting ”> “ Indention ” > “ Hanging ” > “ First line indent ” > “ Hanging indent ” to the desired amount.

Are There More Google Slides Templates?

Yes. There are many free Google Slides templates out there. Here are ten additional templates  for you to use.

Bottom Line

Any presentation’s goal is to keep the audience’s attention, and you can do that with a balance between aesthetics and practicality.

I hope I’ve helped you learn how to make your Google Slides look good, express your message, and captivate your audience. If you need more assistance, Spreadsheet Point’s premium Google Slides templates  can take the pressure off you. When you use the code SSP, you’ll get 50% off !

Get Premium Templates

• How To Download Google Slides [Step-by-Step Guide]
• How To Add Bitmoji to Google Slides
• How To Make Google Slides Play Automatically

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30+ tips and tricks to make Google Slides presentation look good

Home 30+ tips and tricks to make Google Slides presentation look good

Let’s face it, it’s no fun to look at a slide with heavy texts and overcrowded images. It leaves the audience bored and disinterested. It’s very important for your Google Slides presentation to look good in order to have your audience on board. You don’t need to be a designer to learn how to make aesthetic google slides. You can make some basic editing and formatting easily in Google Slides presentation to take it to the next level. In this article, we present some amazing hacks to have a killer presentation that leaves the audience in awe.

Be prepared for a bonus at the end!

Use Google Slides layouts wisely

1. customize slide layouts.

Every presentation needs to follow a basic layout which is regular throughout. Google Slides have a set of layout and theme options to choose from. But in case you wish to edit certain elements, you are free to do it. This will make the presentation truly yours. Click here for a complete guide on using layouts any fresher can use.

2. Use pretty backgrounds for Google Slides

Most of the professional presentations contain a lot of jargon-heavy information written in plain texts on plain backgrounds. Instead, include a transparent or mild background to support your text. The background can either be related to the story or just a plain color wall that goes with the text font and the context.

3. Draw attention with dark background

Audience gets tired of looking at bright colors all day. So, using a dark background not only catches their attention, but is also pleasant for the eyes. But remember to use the matte finish or mild colors for text with the dark background.

4. Try black and white theme to look professional

Often, a black and white theme stands out both because of the professionalism it conveys. This keeps your presentation minimal in appearance and adds to the authenticity of your delivery. But you should be careful not to make it look boring.

5. Use the Master Slides tool

Any change you make in the master slide will automatically reflect on all other slides. Customize the master slide first so that you can save time. You can modify backgrounds, rearrange placeholders, or change theme for the whole presentation with Master slides tool.

6. Keep it minimal

Don’t go fancy with the designs and fonts, keep it minimal. Overcrowding the slides with bulky texts and images or vibrant colors is not a good idea. It will distract the audience and make the presentation look unprofessional.

How to make Google Slides look good with Images

1. use shape masks to make creative images.

Using regular shapes like square and rectangle for images can get boring. To make it interesting, give different shapes to the images.

How to use shape masks in Google Slides:

Select the image you want to apply a shape mask on. Crop the image to the size you want. In crop tool, go to Shapes and choose a shape from the drop-down menu.

2. How to import images from the web

Adding relevant and catchy images make your google slides aesthetic. But you may not have the perfect image to go with the slide. In that case, you can directly download the picture from Google without leaving the tab.

How to import Google images into Google Slides:

Go to Insert >> Image >> Search the web >> Type in the name of the image you want. Or, go to Explore section and Google directly from the Slides tab.

3. Reflect your images if it suits the context

This will be a really cool effect, especially for slides with a single important image. Reflecting your images is a creative way to grab the attention with a single slide. But, this is a bit outdated feature, so it’s better to avoid for professional presentations.

How to reflect an image in Google Slides:

Select an image. Go to Format options and tick the box next to Reflection. Use the slider to adjust the size and transparency.

4. Make the image transparent

Another tip is to adjust the transparency of your image rather than adding a plain image. Plus, you can write relevant text on top of a transparent image.

How to make an image transparent in Google Slides:

Right-click on the picture and go to Formats option. Go to Adjustments >> Transparency. Adjust the transparency as per your requirements.

5. Resize and rotate shapes and images

When you import an image from the web, it might not be the right size for your slides. Google Slides allows you to resize and rotate the images and shapes.

To resize a picture, simply select the picture and move the cursor to bring to the desired size. To rotate an image, click the picture and choose Arrange. Then, click Rotate and select the preferred orientation. Avoid these while using images in Google Slides presentation: Though there are a hundred things you can do to your image, overdoing it will beat the point of making your Google Slides presentation look good. Following are some of the things you should avoid so that the slides look professional.

Using blurry or irrelevant pictures. Stretching or cropping the image more than necessary Low resolution images Watermarked images Not adding citations while using a picture you don’t own Crowding the slides with pictures Using reflection or transparency settings in all the images

Make your Google Slides presentation interactive

1. use the interactive q&a tool.

Having a Q&A section at the end helps you clear any doubts your audience might have. You can make it more interesting by using the Q&A tool. The audience don’t have to wait till the end of the presentation, they can type in the question whenever they want.

How to use the Q&A tool:

During your presentation, activate the Q&A feature by clicking on the Q&A tool. Audience sees a weblink where they can submit their questions. You can answer them at the end of the presentation. You can check the past questions by going to Tools >> Q&A history

2. Create a timeline

In many business presentations, you might need to present the progress of a project and timeline is an important part of it. It is easy to understand and remember. This can be used for interactions and discussions with the audience.

How to create timeline in Google Slides:

Go to Insert >> Diagram This shows a list of different types of timeline templates in built with Google Slides. Choose the one you like and edit it for your data.

Color schemes for your Google Slides presentation

1. edit theme colors.

Every Google Slide theme you choose comes with a pre-set color scheme. However, you can customize the theme according to the color you prefer.

Go to Slide >> Edit Theme Choose a color from the drop-down menu. Here’s a guide on choosing the right color for your Google Slides presentation.

2. Use color split

Using two different colors on the same slide is visually appealing. Make sure you use complementary colors like yellow and blue. For example, if you are using a blue background, use orange color for the texts.

3. Create a color overlay

Color overlay is a technique to make transparent shapes appear on your images or text. You can either apply it to the whole slide or a part of it.

Go to Insert >> Shape Choose a shape if you want to overlay only a part of your slide. Place the selected shape on the slide. Click on the shape and go to Fill colors and choose the color you want. Avoid these while choosing colors for your Google Slides presentation: While adding colors in a smart way can grab the audience’s attention, there are certain rules you should stick to while using them. Here is a small list of things to avoid in order to make your Google Slides look good.

Using multiple bold colors in a single slide Using same color for theme and texts Not sticking to your brand colors Using bright colors for reflection of images or texts. Overusing color gradient

Tips for text in Google Slides presentation

1. try different font attributes.

No one is going to read all the text in your presentation. So, you can highlight the parts which you want to stress on. You can make the text bold, italics, or underlined.

2. Research the top text fonts to use in Google Slides

There are a number of text fonts available in Google Slides, but not all of them make it to a professional presentation deck. So, it’s very important to know the most preferred text fonts to use in Google Slides.

Here are the 5 top text fonts:

Open sans Montserrat Cabin Ubuntu Lato

3. Use text box to have neat texts

Texts randomly strewn across the slides can be distracting for your audience. So, use a text box to have the texts placed in a neat way. You can also align your texts to left, right or centered to make it look professional.

4. Add a drop shadow to the text

Another way to make your texts look interesting is to use a drop shadow effect for Google Slides. However, if you lack experience in designing, we suggest you not to use this effect.

How to add drop shadow:

Select the text you want to use drop shadow on. Go to Format and check the box near Drop Shadow. Use the slider to adjust blur, transparency, and angle.

5. Add the technical terms to your personal dictionary

There might be terminologies or names that are specific to your topic, which may come off as spelling errors. In slides, they may appear in red and you may lose your credibility. To remove this, you can add those terms to the personal dictionary.

Go to Tools >> Personal dictionary Add the technical terms. They will no longer be shown as spelling errors. Common mistakes people make in Google Slides text: While the above features can make your text professional and easy to read, most people miss out on the basics.

Omitting indentation Wrong alignment of text on the slide Using very large or very small texts Not proofreading for typos Inadequate spacing between texts or lines.

Include infographics in Google Slides presentation

1. experiment with different types of diagrams.

If you have a lot of data to present, it’s better to present as graphs or charts instead of pulling off large sheets of data. There are different types of graphs you can use like line graph, bar graph, histogram, pie chart, etc. So, use them in your presentation. This adds credibility to your work and presentation.

2. Let your graph speak for itself

This means you must label, highlight or add everything in the graph such that anyone can analyze it. A single graph with right labels and arrows to show the trend can convey the meaning much better than large amount of texts or spreadsheets.

Add animation to make Google Slides presentation attractive

1. add subtle animation effects on texts.

If you have a lot of information to share on a single slide, use animations to delay some texts instead of displaying everything at a time. This works well for bullet points where you can display one point after another.

2. Add a GIF or a meme

One of the main reasons why presentations are boring is the lack of fun element. Adding a GIF or a relatable meme is not only funny, but helps you put the message across easily. It is an effortless attention grabber.

But you have to make sure it gets added as an animated GIF rather than a still image. For this, the following steps will help:

Find the GIF in Google and copy the image address. Go to Google Slides >> Image >> by URL Paste the URL and click Insert. Remember you have to insert the image by URL for it to play.

3. Add trimmed videos in Google Slides

People recollect visuals better than written text. So, if there is a video on YouTube which can explain what you want to convey, use it. But instead of including the full video, you can add only the relevant part by using the embed option.

4. Use transitions for slides

Adding smooth transition effects for individual slides helps in keeping the flow. The most recommended transition effects to use in a professional presentation are dissolve, fade in, slide from the left, fly in from bottom and fly in from left to right.

Go to Insert >> Animation Select a transition from the available options. Apply to a single slide or all slides, as you wish.

Are you terrified by the amount of effort you have to put in researching about fonts, choosing best colors and get the formatting perfect? This can be time-consuming if you designing is not your biggest flex.

Don’t worry! Here’s the good news!!

You can skip all these steps and still have an amazing presentation deck if you use professional templates!

Use Google Slides presentation templates

Making a presentation from the scratch is wasted time and energy which could be spent on crafting the story you want to convey. That’s why we bring to you the best presentation templates to help you tell your story in your unique way. SlideKit has professional templates designed by experts and you can customize it according to your needs. This can be installed as an add-on in Google Slides for free. It ensures consistency of aspects like font, theme, color scheme and layout used throughout the deck.

SlideKit has slides in the business and other professional domains which you can download, edit and use for free. Premium membership gives you access to 3500+ templates over 35+ niches. Using these templates will make your Google Slides presentation stand out. Here are a few tips to make the most out of SlideKit’s professional google slides templates .

1. Customize the templates

The presentation deck you choose will have all the design and infographic elements you need; but you need to customize them according to your data and your preferred color and font. In SlideKit, you can add images, videos, or hyperlinks, and place them wherever you want on the slide. Additionally, you can acquire hyperlinks from other websites to your own which is referred as niche edits .

2. Use niche-specific templates

There are templates available for different domains, so choose the one that fits your industry. Templates are perfect for branding since they come with placeholders for logo, letterhead, contact details and website address. But it’s important to choose the one that is aligned with the industry. SlideKit makes it easier for you by giving you a variety of industry-specific options to choose from. Moreover, incorporating effective SEO strategies , such as optimizing presentation titles, using relevant keywords, and providing quality content, can significantly enhance the online visibility of your Google Slides presentations, making them more accessible to your target audience and boosting overall engagement.

3. Plug in your data to relevant infographics

As mentioned before, including graphs and charts is beneficial for both you and your audience. Depending on the domain, SlideKit offers relevant infographics which can be customized according to your data. You can change the labels, legends, scale and figures, among many other features.

Now you have the best resources and tools to make your Google Slides presentation look compelling.

Happy presenting!

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15 Tips to Make an Amazing Google Slides Presentation Design!

By: Author Shrot Katewa

There are many reasons that people like to use Google Slides. It could be for a school project, work presentation or just to share information with friends and family.

Whatever the reason, one thing is certain: you want your design to look amazing! If you want an easy way to create a great-looking design for your next presentation then this blog post is for you.

In this article, we will go over 15 tips on how to make an amazing design using Google Slides. Whether it’s your first time creating a presentation on Google Slides or if you’re an experienced professional, these tips are sure to help guide you in the right direction!

So, let’s get started!

Note – if you are strapped for time , simply considering outsourcing the presentation design process to a professional! I’d recommend using Fiverr . It is completely hassle-free to set up and start using. Plus, you don’t need to pay anything to hire a professional. You only pay for the slide design! And, you can start with as little as $5 to $10 per slide!

Tips to Make an Amazing Google Slide Presentation Design!

Since this is going to be an action-packed article with a ton of suggestions, let’s just dive right in with the tips!

1. Create a Compeling Narrative Through a Story Arc

A presentation is only as good as the narrative it holds!

If your presentation doesn’t leave “ food for thought ” for your audience, they are less likely to remember your presentation, and even less likely to take any action afterward (which is mostly bad news especially if you are trying to convince your investors to give you more money!)

Presentation design goes hand-in-hand with the content that is going to be used for the presentation. Thus, start with a compelling story.

The best way to create a convincing story for your presentation is to use the “ Story Arc “.

A “ Story Arc ” or a “Narrative Arc” is something that has been successfully used by storytellers and writers for ages. The keyword here is “successfully”!

A powerful narrative can not only help your audience understand the intricacies of the subject of the presentation, but it also makes the presentation engaging and entertaining.

The best way to start working on a story arc is to either look at what is the most important aspect of your presentation and how can it be emphasized in a manner that takes the role of a protagonist?

Another way that I’ve used the story arc in my presentations successfully is to work backward. Think of what is the end outcome that you expect, and try to track things backward in order to achieve the end outcome.

No matter what approach you take, if you are able to fit a story arc in your presentation, you’d be golden!

Finally use stories from your life, or what you experienced while working on a project! I’ve seen this works really well and resonates with the audience. Here’s a quick video on tips for using storytelling in your presentation.

2. One Topic Per Slide

Now that you’ve identified the larger part of what you going to cover in your presentation – in other words, the content, you now need to lay it out on your presentation such that it can be consumed by your audience comfortably!

One of the simplest tips to design a better presentation is to make sure that you don’t cramp all the information in a single slide or 4-5 slides! Make sure that you spread out the presentation on multiple slides so that the audience can absorb all the information, but in short bursts, and then move on to the next topic!

A good rule of thumb for a good design is to try and cover just 1 topic on a slide.

I’ve seen this work plenty of times, and I personally also use this technique for my presentations. Simply divide the content of your presentations first into multiple key sections. Then, divide the sections further into key topics that should be covered within that section.

You can do this activity on a sheet of paper or just on the first slide of the presentation. Once you’re done with this activity, you’ll realize that the outline that you’ve just created also serves as the “Agenda” or the “Table of Contents” slide.

Now, all you’re left to do is fill in the information that needs to go under each topic.

You may be wondering how is this a design tip. Well, when you have just one concept present on a slide, it is not only easier for your audience to consume, but also easier to design. You’ll realize this when designing the presentation and thank me later!

Remember, there will be times when you will not have much to say about a particular topic, your slide will look empty, and you will be tempted to add another topic on the same slide. Don’t fall for that. Instead, use images that accentuate the text or the topic of the slide.

3. Start with a Template (Don’t Design from Scratch!)

This next tip might seem a bit obvious to some.

But, the reality is that quite a lot of people tend to miss out on the fact that you can use presentations that already look good, and just customize the slides for your content!

Google Slides already provides you with a number of free templates. Here’s how you can access them –

• First, visit your Google Slides dashboard page.
• Login to your Google Account (if prompted)
• Choose a template from “Start a new presentation” section
• You can also click on “Template Gallery” to view more templates.

The one template that I end up using over and over again is the file name “ Consulting Proposal “. It has got a sleek modern design, a good mix of image slides as well as different text placeholder slide layouts for you to easily edit your presentation.

But, feel free to check out other templates and see which one fits your need the best.

The point here is that if you are not great at designing a presentation, you’d perhaps be better off using a template rather than starting from scratch!

4. Use Fonts the Right Way

When it comes to designing a good presentation on Google Slides (or any application for that matter), fonts do play a key role in how your presentation looks!

Thus, it is important to make sure that you use the fonts correctly when creating your presentation.

Here’s what you need to remember when using fonts for your presentation –

• Use Just One or Two Fonts – Don’t use too many fonts in your presentation. Your presentation design will not look good. Plus, using too many fonts in a presentation shows lack of consistency and professionalism in design.
• Combine Fonts – Ideally, just use one font if you are unsure of which fonts work great together. But, you can also combine fonts to make the content of your presentation standout!

If you do want to go with a two-font option, use the Google Fonts tool to identify the font combination.

Here’s how you can find a good font combination for your presentation –

Step 1 – Visit Googe Fonts and Search for a Font

Google Fonts site provides free fonts that are compatible with most modern internet sites and web browsers. Google Fonts are considered the gold standard for sites as these look very modern and are light.

The best thing is – most of them are already available in your Google Slides presentation by default.

So, the first step is to visit the Google Fonts website . Then, search for a font, to begin with. My favorite font is Montserrat . But, you can also go with Lato, Roboto, or Source Sans Pro if you are looking for a Sans Serif Font .

If you are looking for a Serif font , I would recommend using Merriweather .

Step 2 – Choose the Font and click “Pairings”

The next step is to choose a font. You can either type one of the fonts that I mentioned in the search bar and click on it once it appears OR you can also simply choose from the list provided below.

Just make sure that you click on the font that you like to open it.

Once the font is open, click on the “Pairings” tab on the top (as shown in the image).

Step 3 – Choose a Font Pair

Now simply choose one of the font pairs provided by Google Fonts. You can also click on a font pair to see how it looks on the section on the right.

Play with the options provided and choose the font combination that you like.

Now, simply go back to your Google Slides presentation and change the fonts according to your selection.

5. Choose the Right Color Combination

Just the way fonts are an important part of your Google Slides presentation design, choosing a good color combination can make your presentation look visually appealing, consistent, and professional.

Unfortunately, a lot of struggle with choosing a good color combination. Thus, I highly advise going with a monochromatic color scheme.

A monochromatic color scheme in a presentation provides a variety of color combinations of the same color. This makes your presentation look consistent and professional.

Moreover, using a monochromatic color scheme is a perfect way option for a beginner as it requires the least amount of time and effort to set up!

Check out my other article on using a monochromatic color scheme for presentations to understand the topic in-depth.

Then, also check out how to use the eyedropper tool in Google Slides to implement the color scheme that you end up choosing.

Make sure that you change the color at the theme level in Google Slides instead of changing it on every single slide. This will save you quite a bit of time!

6. Use the Expore Tool to Generate Slide Designs

Once you’ve decided the fonts, color scheme, and theme, and you have the content structured out, you’ve done most of the hard work!

All you are now left to do is create the slide designs. And, to help you with that, make sure that you use the “ Explore Tool ” in Google Slides.

The “Explore” feature in Google Slides generates slide designs based on the content that is already present on the slide. It is a great way to get a slide designed almost instantaneously!

The “Explore” feature in Google Slides works much as the design ideas feature in PowerPoint.

Based on the content on the slide, it will throw a few suggestions on how the content can be laid out on the slide. You can choose the design you like. If not, you can still design your own slide. But, it is definitely worth trying out first. Pretty cool, isn’t it!

I wrote a detailed article on the Explore Feature in Google Slides . Make sure you check out that article to learn where to find this tool and know how to use it!

That said, one thing to keep in mind is that this feature is still an experimental tool . And, while it is getting better with time, I wouldn’t recommend using it with every single slide.

In my experience, I’ve noticed that using the “Explore” feature in Google Slides works best when you want to create a title slide, a section break slide, or just want to get a few ideas on how the slide can be designed.

7. Apply the 3 by 3 Design Rule

The 3 by 3 design rule, otherwise also known as “ the rule of thirds “, is a principle that has been borrowed from photography. But, it is every bit applicable even for slide designs and other design elements!

As per the 3 by 3 design principle, you basically need to divide the visual canvas into 3 equal-sized vertical and horizontal grids with the help of 2 vertical grid lines and 2 horizontal grid lines.

Here’s a video that explains the concept of the rule of thirds for presentations –

Using these grids helps place the content correctly in the grids such that the key message usually aligns with the way our eyes like to see them visually!

The 3 by 3 design principle may seem confusing at first, but once you’ve understood how to use it, you can literally take your presentation design skills a few notches above the rest!

Using 3X3 Grids to Properly Layout Content on your Slides

The interesting thing is, you can take the same principle to make it work with elements apart from the images that are present on your slide. And, the results are just amazing!

The picture above shows how most people design their slides (on the left). However, you can literally transform the way your slides look by applying the concept of 3×3 grids to any existing content on the slides! (as shown on the right part of the picture above)

Here’s another video that explains how this concept of 3 by 3 grids can be used to take any existing slides and make them better (if they aren’t properly organized).

8. Use Powerful Images

They say – “An image speaks a thousand words!”. This absolutely holds true when it comes to big impact presentation!

If you recollect any one of the top presentations from Steve Jobs. His presentation was almost always using powerful images with very few words on them.

Using images, as opposed to a lot of text, on your presentation has a few advantages of its own –

• Visual Appeal – Using images makes the slide visually appealing. Think about it – if there aren’t too many objects placed on the slide, the chances of making design related mistakes are also far lower!
• Emotional Connect – Using images creates a subtle emotional connect in the minds of the audience with the topic of the presentation and/or the presenter.
• Audience Focus – When you use text on a presentation, often the audience just reads the text and doens’t want to listen to the presenter. Instead, when using the images, you control the focus of the attention of your audience. Once you have their attention, making a presentation impactful is a lot easier!
• Faster Design Process – In most cases, it is faster to find an image and add it to the presentation rather than think of a way to design a slide to communicate a concept. This is especially true if you have only basic design skills.

If you watch some of the most famous TED or TEDx presentations ( know the difference between TED and TEDx presentations here ), it is quite common to see presenters using high-impact images with text. Ever wonder why is it so?

Well, one of the most important reasons is that you are able to control the attention of the audience!

Now, if you are wondering how to find images for your presentation, keep reading as I’ve got some great recommendations for add-ons later in the article!

9. Keep the Text on the Slide Readable

If using images for most slides is not the way for you, then this section is going to be quite important!

In fact, even if you do plan to use just images on your slides, there may still be a few slides where you will need to have some text. If so, make sure that the text on the slide is readable!

Make sure that you don’t use text that is too small to read.

As a general rule – the further the audience is going to be away from the screen, the larger the size of the text!

Here’s what to remember for the size of the text on the slides –

• Presentation seen on a computer screen – If the presentation that you are designing is going to be seen on a computer screen (either over an email or a zoom call), then make sure that the font size used for the presentation is not less than 16 points .
• Presentation seen on a large screen – If the presentation is going to be delivered in an auditorium, then it is recommended to use a font size no less than 30 points . For the rest of the situations, anything in between should be fine!

Also, make sure that you don’t use too much text on the same slide. Remember – you only need to cover one key topic on one slide.

It is totally okay to just use one word in the middle of the slide, and talk about that topic rather than using text from a complete word document on a slide!

If your audience will have to squint to read what is written, it just creates a bad user experience and they quickly lose interest.

Also, for the above reason, don’t include everything on the slide that you plan to say! If you do so, you may come across as a person who is just reading from the slide! Most importantly, the audience is going to end up reading the text from the slide faster than you speak, and end up losing interest in the presentation!

10. Ditch the Bullet Points (Use Infographics Instead!)

Using bullet points on a presentation is so 1990s! It’s just not the way good presentations are given anymore!

If you want your presentation design to look good, make sure that you get rid of bullet points. Instead, you can either use images, icons, or even infographics!

I’ve written an entire article on how to use infographics in Google Slides where I also talk about SmartArt and charts in Google Slides. Make sure you check out that article!

There are a ton of different ways in which you get infographics for Google Slides. I’ve talked about that also in the same article that I’ve linked above.

Likewise, you can also use icons instead of bullet points. Although adding icons to Google Slides is not an option that is available by default, there are a few ways you can work around this problem. For instance, you can use an add-on like “Flaticon” that provides free icons for Google Slides!

If you are wondering how to create a slide with bullet points and use icons or other methods, here’s a good example of an actual client slide that I redesigned –

As you can see on the image, simply using icons and structuring the text to give proper hierarchy to the information can make all the difference to the design of the slide!

In case you don’t want to use icons, you can also use numbers with circles, and use a similar design instead of just adding bullets to your presentation. If you do so, your presentation will still look good!

11. Avoid Using Just Table or a Graph

The next tip to remember is to avoid using just a table or a graph on a slide. Make sure that you also include a few points that act as key takeaways from the information that you provide.

Using just a table will present a lot of information on a single slide. This will definitely cause an information overload. And, even though your audience may be able to assess what is being presented to them, it is important to either highlight key pieces of information in the table or a graph.

Alternatively, you can also add a couple of lines of text indicating the key learnings from the data set.

Don’t get me wrong, it is important to have data sets on a presentation if you have one! But, just make sure that you also highlight key pieces of information that your audience should pay attention to.

12. Keep Animations and Transitions Subtle

Another design tip that you should keep in mind is the use of animations and transitions in Google Slides.

You want to make sure when using animations in Google Slides , you don’t add any funny movements. Think old school when using animations and transitions in your presentation.

Any additional movement or sudden transitions can distract the attention of the audience from the core topic and the messaging of the presentation.

So, make sure that you keep the use of such animations or transitions to the minimal!

13. Use Professional Google Slides Templates

If you find that the free template doesn’t have enough slide layouts for your presentation or doesn’t really fit the topic of your presentation, you may want to consider using professional templates!

There are a ton of different ways you can get templates for Google Slides. Unfortunately, most of the free options (and even most paid options) have outdated designs!

My personal favorite method for getting amazing Google Slides presentation templates is using Envato Elements .

The best part about using Envato Elements is that not only does it provide you with the best-in-class designs for your templates, but it also provides you with an option to download an unlimited number of presentations! (yes, you hear that right!)

Moreover, the pricing of Envato Elements is also really affordable! All you need to do is click on Envato Elements to visit the website, view the templates, and click on the “ Get Unlimited Downloads ” button on the top.

You will be prompted to sign up and pay a subscription. Just go for a monthly subscription and pay for one month (You can easily remove the payment method and cancel your subscription anytime).

Once you’ve logged in, simply cancel your subscription. Your subscription will be valid until the next date of renewal even if you cancel it.

Now, for the one month that you’ve paid, feel free to download all the templates that you like including templates for Google Slides, and PowerPoint!

14. Use Add-ons for Faster and Better Designs

One of the challenges with Google Slides, as opposed to some of the most reliable presentation design software, is the limited number of features it offers.

I suppose we should not really be complaining about it given that we do get a great presentation design application for free along with several additional advantages with Google Slides ! That said, you do feel the need for a few pro-features that PowerPoint has to offer.

However, one way to fix this problem is to use add-ons with Google Slides!

Using add-ons allows you to use third-party tools and bring additional functionalities to your Google Slides presentation!

Add-ons on Google Slides are easy to add. Simply go to the Google Marketplace, and search for the add-on that you would like to add. Install it, and you are done!

Check out my complete guide on using Add-ons on Google Slides where I not only talk about how to use add-ons in Google Slides, but I also provide you with my personal favorite top 5 recommendations of add-ons that you should be using in Google Slides!

15. Hire a Professional

Well, the last tip is not so much as a tool that you can use on Google Slides. But, it is a great hack to ensure that you create great presentation designs!

Simply hire a professional to do the design work for you! You may be wondering that hiring a presentation professional might be difficult. However, that is not the case.

You can easily find some really good presentation designers on Fiverr , and you can start at as little as $5 to $10 dollars per slide! I’ve personally used freelancers from the site, and although finding a good freelancer may take you 15-20 minutes, you can easily outsource your work and let the designer worry about the rest!

The best part is – you don’t have to pay a single penny to hire a professional. You only pay to get the work done!

There are a ton of other platforms to hire professionals that can design a good presentation for you. However, I have found Fiverr (especially for presentation design work) and Upwork to be the most effective.

A Few Things to Remember When Delivering the Presentation

Once you have created an amazing Google Slides presentation, you are perhaps ready to deliver the presentation. However, I’d like to also share a couple of tips that can be helpful when you plan to give the presentation!

So, here they are –

1. Use a Presentation Remote

It doesn’t matter whether you are giving a presentation in an auditorium or online through Zoom or Microsoft Teams.

Using a presentation remote helps you keep your hands free and allows for free movement and hand gestures. This does help engage with your audience.

Check out my other article on using presentation clickers with Google Slides where I provide you with a few tips and recommendations on which remote you should go with.

2. Use the Q&A Tool in Google Slides

A unique feature that Google Slides provides is the Q&A tool. This is great especially if you are delivering a webinar-style presentation or if you are simply addressing a large gathering.

This tool allows your audience to send questions during the course of your presentation. Then, at the end, you can simply view the questions in the Q&A session and answer them one by one!

It is a great way to deliver an engaging presentation using Google Slides!

Credit to cookie_studio (on Freepik) for the featured image of this article (further edited).

How to Make Google Slides Look Good And Add a Touch of Finesse?

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From ancient times to today, people have been obsessed with beauty. People have adored art, whether we talk about cave drawings or Renaissance art. Our nature has remained the same – only the means have changed.

Regardless of the presentation software you use, a top-notch performance is about three key details: a confident speaker, helpful content, and great design. And while many people aim to add tons of information and become exceptional orators, many presenters overlook visual elements for some reason.

In this article, we will see how to make Google Slides look good and what is the benefit of adding design elements.

Article overview:

1. Why should you make your Google Slides visually appealing 2. What are the benefits of stunning Google Slides presentations? 3. How to Make Google Slides Look Good?

1. How can poor design affect your presentation?

Your audience is exposed to a lot of information daily – news, social media feeds, videos, chats, etc. A brain has been so used to receiving lots of info daily that it filters out most of it. At the end of each day, you remember the brightest moments.

The same thing applies to presentations. If you have spent much effort delivering your presentation, you win points, and your idea might get “sold.” However, it would help if you had that extra bit of something – like a pinch of salt, to make the difference between a good presentation and an outstanding one.

Visually appearing presentations can have a profound effect on your audience. Imagine seeing the same person in the subway – on day one they wear an old jacket and dirty jeans, and they are dressed up a day later. If they come to you, asking for a small favor – when will you trust them more?

2. What are the benefits of stunning Google Slides presentations?

Whether you are a teacher, student, or business person, you want valid reasons to add graphic elements to your presentation. Modifying the themes in Google Slides , inserting shapes, and creating animations are all time-consuming. A couple of minutes here and there, and you have already spent hours on the presentation. But how do you compensate for this time? Let’s see what is the added value from making your Google Slides presentation more attractive.

✅ A better understanding of your concept  – Google Slides presentations have a main topic and sub-topics. If you organize your slides and make them more appealing, it will be easier for your audience to understand what you’re saying.

✅ Data visualization  – in most presentations, the main focus is on 2-3 slides that contain data. Proper data visualization can convince your audience and sell your ideas.

✅ More confidence – just like formal clothes, good-looking presentations give that extra confidence in speakers required to perform more assertively.

✅ Improved conversions  – while the term “conversion” might create associations with sales, it doesn’t have that purpose only. While for salespeople good presentation design could result in more products/services sold – students might convince their teachers they deserve an A+, and professors could keep their students hooked during the whole lecture.

3. How to Make Google Slides Look Good?

Google Slides offers a lot of functions that could be utilized to make your presentation look better. Below, you can find eight tips and tricks to improve your design and grab the audience.

3.1. Use presentation templates

Time is money. While you can optimize your presentation design every single time you create a new presentation, it is extremely time-wasting. Doing the same thing over and over again is not a viable strategy. This is where templates come into place. Instead of doing everything from scratch, you have a ready-made backbone, and your task is to enter your content and tweak the template a little bit, depending on the presentation.

Google Slides comes with 20+ default templates to choose from. You can then edit the colors from the Theme builder but that’s about it. You also have the option to customize each slide individually but remember – you should keep the consistency with the colors and the structure of the slide.

The last option is preferred by many. Instead of using a generic template, you can download a pre-made template mixed with some tweaks. There are plenty of free Google Slides templates. Of course, you can also buy paid templates which can be extremely useful if you carry out presentations frequently.

But no matter which ones you download – the paid or the free templates, you should know that they have been created by designers, so you should only change minor details. There’s no need to worry about font compatibility, color contrast, and other details which would otherwise be hard to manage.

3.2. Choose the right colors

The Color Theory is applicable in any area of our lives. Your Google Slides presentation makes no difference. Depending on the topic you are presenting, you need to select your colors carefully. If you offer a banking product, you might want to use light blue background combined with red and white. For presentations about nature and biology, using green and brown as more earthy colors will be a good idea.

Don’t forget to play with the font colors, too. For presentations with darker backgrounds, fonts have to be light and have bright accents. If you have a very light background, you have to make your text darker and bolder.

Colors are a substantial part of branding. If you have a Google Slides presentation and you want to showcase your branded goods, you might want to use the brand colors, as to highlight your product and add more value to it.

3.3. Pay attention to fonts

The fonts you pick will set the tone of your presentation. There are many things to consider when adding fonts. Make sure your topic matches the seriousness of the fonts – for more formal presentations (like medical presentations), you have to use more formal fonts – like Roboto, Arial, Helvetica Neue, and Garamond. You can easily add some of the best free fonts to your Google Slides presentation .

You need to focus on one critical detail, though – it’s not a good idea to use more than 2-3 fonts in your presentation. If you break this rule, you risk distracting your audience. Also, you need to be consistent with your choice of fonts – picking fonts that are either too similar (lack of visual hierarchy) or too different is a big blunder.

A quick tip : If you don’t know which fonts to choose, you can select fonts from the same family or combine one serif for the title text and a sans-serif for the standard text.

3.4. Add transitions

Knowing how to make Google Slides look good is important. So are the transitions. Finding the right balance between adding too much and having none is fundamental. Also, try to use a maximum of 1 transition per slide. It’s a good practice to set the same effect on all slides, as to keep consistency.

It will not be a bad idea if you avoid using Cube and Gallery transitions. They are a bit too overwhelming. You can also use object animations. They are quite useful if you have an important chart to show, as they can attract your audience’s attention.

3.5. Use infographics

Infographics (a combination of information + graphics) are a great way to make data more accessible to your audience. They are visual representations of necessary facts you would like to share with your audience and are a much-preferred way to present information more clearly.

Instead of explaining the details and having a slide with two long paragraphs where people get lost, creating a simple radial chart in Google Slides and displaying it in front of the others, for example,  might better convey your message.

But infographics are not limited to charts. You can display all types of data – process steps, historical values, etc. Ensure you have the right infographic for your information. If you discuss the project scope, you might want to visualize it with a Gantt chart or step-by-step infographic. A pie helps show a percentage of the whole. And be careful – even if you come up with a good infographic design, you need to create a legend so that people can understand it.

If you need infographics, you can check our collection of 500+ infographics compatible with Google Slides (including freebies).

3.6 Embed videos

In one of our previous guides, we showed you how to embed videos in Google Slides . Both Millennial and Gen Z audiences consume a lot of video content. As a result, you can create a lasting impression on them by adding useful videos to your topic. The good news is you can edit the videos, so they can watch the part which is most relevant to the slide topic. It’s not a good idea to stream more than 2 minutes per slide, as you will lose your impact as a speaker. Also, don’t show more than 3 videos per presentation, as videos aim to support you, rather than be the main source of content.

As both YouTube and Slides are part of Google, it’s elementary to add videos from the video streaming platform directly. If, however, your want to add videos that aren’t uploaded on YouTube, you simply have to download them (Vimeo has such an option) and implement them through Google Drive.

3.7. Add GIFs

GIFs are the perfect mix between single-frame images and videos. With them, you can catch your audience’s attention on particular details from your presentation. GIFs are one of the cool things you can do with Google Slides. Since a GIF is practically an image, you can add them easily – by URL or from your computer. You can check one of our articles about free GIFs for presentations .

GIFs find great application in pinpointing certain phrases or infographics that readers should pay attention to. You can also create a GIF to make a demo of how something works, so it can be utilized in tutorials. But GIFs should be used moderately. Abusing these visuals will result in diminishing returns – the audience will get distracted and the GIFs won’t be able to fulfill their goal.

Regarding memes, you’d better not use them. While a positive impact is possible, the chances are that you will most probably make your presentation less serious and change the topic of the whole presentation.

3.8. Add 3D shapes

Design is design – whether we speak about presentation design or UX design. Making your Google slides aesthetic brings a lot of added value but you should know that trends are changing, and coming up with dated designs will not make a good impression. And speaking of trends – 3D shapes are an inevitable part of modern design, a 3D image might be more relevant and easily understood than a simple 2D drawing, especially if the presentation is about architecture and engineering.

Currently, Google Slides doesn’t have its own 3D shapes and charts, but you can easily add one from external sources – you can use your computer (if you have it there), a URL address, or if the image is shared with you in Google Drive.

You should learn how to make Google Slides look good, as your audience is demanding – people want to hear someone who is confident in presenting something which is visually attractive. If you manage to use Google Slides to your advantage, you can come up with outstanding presentation designs and enjoy the deserved applause at the end.

If you found our post useful, you can also take a look at our collection of Google Slides tutorials , or browse some of these:

• How to Calm Down Before a Presentation: 10 Practical Tips and Techniques
• How to Start and End a Presentation: 10 Practical Tips to Grab Attention and Make an Impact
• 20 Google Slides Tips to spice up your Presentations

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Nikolay Kaloyanov

Nikolay is a copywriter with vast experience in Technology, Marketing, and Design. When he isn't playing with words and crafting texts, he watches sports and asks questions. He is a funny person...until you put him on a diet.

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8 Tips on How to Make Google Slides Look Good

Expect your audience to not be very impressed if you have a generic Google Slides presentation. They’re used to seeing similar information online, and this makes it difficult for you to get through to them. Deliver your point effectively by learning how to make Google Slides more pleasing to the eye in this guide.

Tip: already have a great-looking presentation? Learn how to extract images from Google Slides or PowerPoint .

How to Make Google Slides Look Good

1. choose the right slide layout, 2. use an appropriate color scheme, 3. choose a font based on application, 4. insert infographics, 5. embed videos and gifs, 6. add animations and transitions, 7. interact with audience using the q&a tool, 8. use google slides templates.

While the definition of a “good-looking presentation” is very subjective, there are some benchmarks that you can refer to. The following eight tips can improve the appearance of your Google Slides presentation:

Position your photos and text at optimal locations on a slide so that your audience can read and consume the details you’re presenting without hassle. But where are these “optimal locations”? That’s where slide layouts come into play.

When you add a new slide to a Google Slides presentation, you have an option to choose a layout. The layouts are preset with image placeholders, text boxes, title boxes, and similar elements. You just need to insert your content.

Find the slide layouts by clicking the downward arrow beside the “New slide” button in the toolbar. Choose one of these common (but effective) slide layouts:

• Section header: use this layout to separate your content into different sections. It also helps your audience understand when you’re transitioning to another topic.

• Title and body: this is likely to be the layout you use most often in your presentation. Use it to present an idea with supporting bullet points.

• One column text: this layout is good to use when you want to insert a supporting photo beside a text box.

• Caption: Sometimes a picture can convey more meaning than a slide filled with text. For full-screen photos, the caption slide is the best option.

• Big number: when presenting important figures and statistics, this layout will help deliver a better impact among your audiences.

Good to know: learn how to add a chart to your Google Slides presentation .

Colors play a vital role in setting the mood of your presentation. If you choose the wrong color scheme, you may not be able to deliver your point clearly. Worse, your audience could get distracted if you choose tacky colors.

Consider the context and audience of your presentation when choosing a color scheme:

• Monochrome for formal scenarios: when delivering keynote presentations, pitch decks, and other business reports, use colors that look more formal. Consider black and white themes or incorporate varying shades of blue to add visual interest to your slides.

• Vibrant themes for the creatives: if you’re running a creative studio or making a presentation related to marketing, consider using more vibrant colors. Make sure you find the right blend to showcase your own creative abilities.

• Utilize your brand colors: if you want to showcase your products or services in your Google Slides, why not use your brand’s colors? This would give more emphasis to your products and increase brand awareness.

Aside from the appropriate slide colors, remember to apply your chosen color scheme to other elements as well. Ensure that the color of your text contrasts nicely with the background for optimal readability. Simply put, use light-colored fonts for dark backgrounds and vice versa.

When selecting fonts, consider looking up font psychology on the Web. Basically, it shows how different styles of fonts can evoke emotion or tone among people. The following are the three major font categories:

• Serif: use this when delivering formal presentations, especially in academic and corporate applications. Examples include EB Garamond, Lora, and Roboto Serif.

• Sans serif: for more casual applications, use a sans serif font, such as Arial, Lexend, and Work Sans.

• Script: if you want to showcase your creativity, such as for art presentations and marketing pitches, a script font may be more appropriate. Examples are Caveat, and Lobster. You can also opt for a “hand-drawn” font, such as Amatic.

Whichever you choose, use only two to three fonts in your Google Slides presentation. This way, you provide enough visual interest to your slides and avoid making them look tacky. Pairing serif and sans-serif fonts for the title and body text is a great way to start.

Remember to experiment with the font sizes, too. Establish a visual hierarchy using bigger fonts for headers and smaller fonts for the details.

Good to know: use these tools to identify fonts in images .

Infographics provide a more interesting and meaningful way to present your data compared to plain text. Since there are graphics and visual cues involved, your audience can consume the content more intuitively (like in a process flow diagram).

Google Slides offers numerous kinds of diagrams, from grids to cycle charts. Whichever you choose, ensure that it matches the set of information that you’re presenting. For example, you can use a timeline chart when presenting the milestone years of your brand.

To add an infographic in Google Slides, go to “Insert -> Diagram.” Select your preferred chart, and edit as needed.

Videos are great supporting materials in your presentation, especially when you’re discussing complex topics. You have two source options here: YouTube and Google Drive.

Inserting a Video From YouTube:

• Go to YouTube and find the video that you want to insert.
• Click the “Share” button.

• Choose “Copy.”

• Return to your Google Slides presentation.
• Go to “Insert -> Video.”

• Click the search bar at the top, and paste the link that you copied.
• Select the result that appears.
• Click the “Insert” button.

Inserting a Video From Google Drive:

If you want to use videos that you have previously recorded or ones you downloaded from Facebook, upload them to your Google Drive account first, then insert them into your slides as instructed below:

• Go to your account on Google Drive , and select your video.
• Right-click on the video, then choose “Share -> Copy link.”

• Return to your presentation.
• Choose “Insert -> Video.”

• Switch to the “Google Drive” tab, then paste the link you copied to the search bar at the top.

• Click “Insert” to finish.

When using a video in your presentation , remember that it’s only supporting material. Ensure that it lasts no more than two minutes on a slide. Keep the number of video clips to a maximum of three in your entire presentation, too.

For short clips that span only a few seconds, we recommend using GIFs instead. They’re much lighter in storage than videos and would be just as effective. You can add one by choosing “Insert -> Image” in the menu bar.

Whichever source you prefer to use is up to you. You can search for photos online in an app, upload them from your drive or local storage, or copy and paste the URL of your image.

Tip: running out of space on Drive? Learn how to delete files from Google Drive to gain more room .

Using animations and transitions can make your Google Slides more attractive and enjoyable. They make your presentation appear less static and can also help with the pacing of your discussion.

When adding them to your slides, ensure that they are uniform throughout. For animations, it’s good to use up to two styles. For transitions, apply a single effect to every slide to not risk distracting your audience. Follow the steps below to add animations and transitions:

• Go to “Slide,” and select “Transition.”

• Select your preferred effect in the side panel under “Slide Transition.”
• Adjust its speed as necessary.
• Click “Apply to all slides.”

• Under “Object Animations,” select the effect you want to apply to your text or object.

• Preview your transition and/or animation using the “Play” button.

Note: we recommend that you avoid using the “Spin” animation for normal text, as it can be distracting. This also applies to the “Flip,” “Cube,” and “Gallery” transitions.

Related: want to whiz along more quickly when creating your presentation? Check out these Google Slides keyboard shortcuts .

After attracting your audience’s attention, go a step further to keep them engaged. One of the best features that you can use in Google Slides is the Q&A tool. Follow these steps to implement it:

• Click the “Slideshow” button in the top-right corner of your screen.

• Choose the More icon (vertical three dots) in the lower-left corner.
• Select “Q & A” from the list.
• Alternatively, press the “A” key on your keyboard.

• Click “Start new.”

You can enable this tool from the very start of your presentation. There will be a link displayed on top of the presenter screen where your audience can send their questions and concerns. This link works until you disable it or your presentation ends.

The questions will pool in the Q&A tool as your presentation progresses. Ensure that you allot time to address them. You can find the questions in the same tab as the steps above.

Given our tips, you probably realize that creating a visually appealing presentation consumes much time and effort. You may want to use a Google Slides template to save time for other tasks.

Templates already follow a structured format, from the design elements to the layout. Just insert your content, and customize the template to your needs.

FYI: make it educational for your kids by creating a simple flash card game in Google Slides .

Final Thoughts

A good-looking presentation doesn’t just impress your audience – it also ensures that your point comes across. To create an effective Google Slides presentation, consider using preset layouts and templates, and select the right colors and font styles to properly set the mood of your presentation.

Infographics, videos, and other visual cues would also be beneficial. And to top it off, consider using the Q&A tool to keep your audience engaged.

Want to learn more? Take a look at these 10 Google Slides tips to save you time .

Image credit: Unsplash . All screenshots by Princess Angolluan.

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Princess is a freelance writer based in Croatia. She used to work as an English teacher in Hokkaido, Japan before she finally changed careers and focused on content writing & copywriting, while running their own digital marketing company in Europe. For 5 years, she has written many articles and web pages on various niches like technology, finance, digital marketing, etc. Princess loves playing FPS games, watching anime, and singing.

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How to Create a Presentation Using Google Slides

Last Updated: November 30, 2023

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 17 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 246,965 times. Learn more...

This tutorial will show you how to make a PowerPoint-like presentation using Google Slides. Presentations can be used for school, business, and so much more.

• You can also just type in https://slides.google.com , log in if you haven't already, and will be taken to the Slides page.
• If you don't have a Google account, learn to create one now!

• For more options, hover over the arrow on the right edge of the Google Slides option, where a smaller drop-down menu will appear. From here you can select to create a presentation from a template or a blank slide.

• Be sure to add a title and subtitle by clicking where you are prompted to add text.

• You can also change a pre-existing slide's layout by clicking the layout option on the upper editing bar.

• As you add animations to each element by clicking the blue "+ Select an object to animate", they will begin to pile up. Click on each one to edit it.
• Change the transition from slide to slide by clicking the default "Slide: No transition" at the top of the sidebar. You can choose whether to apply to all slides or just one.
• Preview your animations by clicking Play at the bottom of the sidebar.
• Remove an animation by clicking the small x on its rectangle, and drag each animation up or down to change the order.

Community Q&A

wikiHow Video: How to Create a Presentation Using Google Slides

• If you have a pop-up blocker, make sure to disable it so Slides can work properly. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Hover over each tool to see its keyboard shortcut and function. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Remember, these are the basic functions- Google Slides contains many more tools that you can work with as you explore the creator. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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About This Article

To create a new Google Slides presentation, open a web browser and go to Slides.Google.com. If you want to start from a template, you can choose one from the template gallery. Otherwise, click "Blank" to create a new blank presentation. Your blank presentation starts with a single simple slide with space to enter a title and subtitle. You can personalize this slide, as well as other slides you add, by editing the placeholder text, as well as choosing a slide theme from the panel to the right. To insert another slide, click the "Insert" menu and select "New Slide," or press "Control M" for a quick keyboard shortcut. You'll also find other things you can add to your slide on the Insert menu, including the option to add an image, a text box for typing, videos, shapes, charts, and other features. After adding a new slide, click the "Layout" menu to choose a slide layout—you can give each slide its own layout or reuse the same layout as much as necessary. Edit the placeholder text, and then insert objects from the Insert menu. To move an object, click the arrow in the toolbar, hover the mouse cursor around the object's border line until it turns to a 4-point arrow, and then click and drag it. Each slide you add will have a thumbnail in the left panel—click a slide's thumbnail to open that slide for editing. To see your presentation as a viewer would, click your first slide in the left panel, and then click "Present" at the top corner. Click the Escape key to go back to editing. Google Slides also has some built-in effects you can access from the "Transition" menu—here you can animate a slide's transition into the next slide, as well as animate individual objects. To apply an effect, background, theme, layout, or any other setting to more than one slide at once, select the slides in the left panel by holding down the Control key as you click each thumbnail. Your presentation will automatically save to your Google Drive as you work—type a name for the presentation in the top-left corner so you can easily find the file when you need it. Did this summary help you? Yes No

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• Presentations
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How to Create Professional Google Slideshows for Business Presentations

You're ready to learn how to create a professional Google slideshow. You know the basic steps. But you need some help with a few techniques. Or you've created Google presentations before, but you need a refresher.

Either way, this is the tutorial for you. We'll show you what you need to know to create a great Google Slideshow presentation. We'll also share a few advanced techniques and include links to related helpful resources.

This tutorial will show you how to use Google Slides templates for business. You'll sample the best Google Slides templates with unlimited downloads on Envato Elements. You're also going to see  professional Google Slides templates   on GraphicRiver. 

Templates make design easy! Now let's get started with the steps on how to create an effective Google Slideshow presentation—from start to finish: 

Check Out Our New Free Online Presentation Guide

If you're reading this article, you're probably about to create a business presentation. We'll help you out by taking you through some presentation creation steps below. But we've got even more presentation help available.

In our new free presentation guide,  The Complete Guide to Making Great Business Presentations , we'll teach you how to prepare for your business presentation. It takes you through the complete process to get you ready for your next business presentation—from start to finish. Avoid common mistakes and learn how plan and write the best business presentations.

Don't miss our new free online presentation guide. It's chock full of powerful business presentation advice to help you make your next business presentation your best yet. Why not take a look at  the Complete Guide to Making Great Business Presentations  today?

Now, let's learn how to create professional Google Slides slideshows:

Your Quick Start Guide on Creating Professional Google Slideshows  (Video)

Are you ready to learn more about using Google Slides to create a business presentation slideshow? One of the best ways to learn how to make a slideshow on Google Slides is by watching our video tutorial. Watch this quick screencast to learn all about Google Slides presentations:

Or study the step-by-step written tutorial below. You'll learn how to create a presentation in Google Slides, easily.

Step 1. Plan Your Presentation

Planning is one of the most important measures you can take during your Google Slides presentation preparation. Yet, all too many businesspeople skip or skimp on this very important step. Don't make this common mistake while you learn how to make a professional slideshow.

Your planning should include an in-depth look at the goal, or purpose of your presentation. You should also investigate to find out as much as you can about the audience you're trying to reach. You can't effectively reach your target audience if you don't know who they are or what they need.

Narrow your topic down. Take out anything this isn't directly related to the message you're trying to convey. When you've tightened your focus, start to arrange the order of your information. One of the most important parts of how to create a presentation in Google Slides is considering sequence.

For a more in-depth discussion on planning your presentation and other guidance on how to make a great presentation, download our free eBook:  The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations .

Advanced Tip: Need to present your material more than once? Create a master presentation to base other versions on. Design the presentation master for the longest time slot and create it first. 

This presentation master should include everything you might need in your presentation. Then, make a copy (or copies) of the master presentation and rename them. Edit each copy down to the desired length by removing less important slides.

Step 2. Download a Premium Google Slides Presentation Template

How your Google Slides presentation looks is as important as the information it contains. People quickly dismiss a badly designed Google Drive slideshow as being unprofessional. If you don't know how to make a slideshow on Google Slides, you risk never being heard.

If you happen to be a professional designer with gobs of time on your hands, you're in luck. You can design the look of your presentation yourself and it'll probably look good.

Chances are that you  aren't  a professional Google Slides template designer. But just because you aren't a professional designer doesn't mean you can have a professional slideshow design . That's thanks to Envato Elements. 

Envato Elements includes an unlimited library of professional Google Slides templates for business. Use them to help you master how to use Google Slides.

It's that all-you-can-download library that helps you keep costs manageable. You'll unlock all the professional Google Slides templates for business you need. Plus, stock photos and graphics to perfectly fill in your templates.

Throughout the rest of this tutorial, you'll see screenshots from the Hasta Google Slides Presentation .  It's one of thousands of professional Google Slides templates unlocked with a subscription.

You can also find a good selection of business  Google Slides templates  and themes at GraphicRiver. It's a pay-as-you-go marketplace to source professional Google Slides templates.

Templates are really the key when learning how to create a presentation in Google Slides. To learn more about how to use a theme with your Google Slides presentation, review this tutorial:

Step 3. Create a New Google Slides Presentation

Once you're ready to start creating your presentation, it's easy to get started. Start by opening your Google Drive. Click the New button in the upper left corner. Then, click the  Google Slides  option from the drop-down menu.

A new presentation opens:

Of course, if you're using a template as recommended, you'll need to upload it to your Google Drive account. Drag-and-drop the .PPTX file into your Google Drive browser. Then, double-click it and choose Open with Google Slides to start working with it.

You've just created a new Google Slides presentation. All you need to do now is apply a theme or template and start adding your content to your Google Drive slideshow.

If you've got an existing PowerPoint presentation, you can import it into Google Slides. Learn how to import a PowerPoint presentation to Google Slides:

Advanced Tip: Copy slides from one presentation to another by using the CTRL + C and CTRL + V shortcuts. It works for both single slides and groups of slides. This shortcut allows you to add content to a presentation without retyping it.

Step 4. Add Your Text

Adding text is an important part of creating a professional Google slide show presentation. Your words help tell your story. They can also serve to remind you of what you intend to say during a live presentation.

Here's a look at how to add text to a new Google Slides presentation. We'll use the Text box tool (it looks like a T in the Toolbar menu):

If you're working in a template, the slides will usually already have plenty of text boxes. Click in them and type over the placeholder text.

Once the text box is open all you need to do is type your text. You can also format the text after you've typed it in. For a more detailed tutorial on adding text to your presentation, explore:

Advanced Tip: Save time by using the   Text formatting and Paragraph formatting keyboard shortcuts. You'll find a list of keyboard shortcuts under the Help > Keyboard shortcuts menu option. Click on Text formatting or Paragraph formatting in the shortcut list on the left to view those specific shortcuts.

Step 5. Insert Powerful Images

Once you've added the text content of your presentation, you'll want to take the slideshow to the next level. One way to do that is with graphic images and photos.

It's not difficult to add graphic images and photos to a presentation. Start by clicking Insert > Image from the main menu. The drop-down menu appears:

Choose the respective option to add an image to your slide. Upload one from your computer or search the web using the built-in box.

To learn more about using images in Google Slides, study the tutorial below. You'll learn how to add background images and embed images in shapes: 

Caution: Be careful about the images you choose. They need to be clear and compelling. Also, don't try to crowd too many images onto a single slide. A crowded slide detracts from your presentation. Finally, make sure that you've got the rights to use any image before you add it to a Google Drive slideshow. 

Keep in mind that most images online are copyrighted. You can find premium royalty-free images at Envato Elements . Download as many as you need with a monthly subscription. It's easier to master how to make a professional slideshow by starting with a template.

You could stop right here since you now know enough to create a basic presentation from scratch. But if you want to make your presentation stand out from the rest, you'll need to add some unique elements. There are some more steps you can take to do that:

Step 6. Add Engaging Audio and Video

Want to make your Google Slideshow presentation seem more professional and engage your audience? Let's learn how to add sound or video elements.

The Google Slides Insert drop-down menu now includes an Audio option. This feature makes it easy to add an audio soundtrack to your Google slide show.

Learn how to add both sound and video to your Google slideshows with these tutorials:

Important : Always make sure that you've got permission to use material that's created or owned by someone else before adding it to your slideshow.

Step 7. Set Up Your Presentation to Play Automatically or to Loop

If your Google slide show will be published online, you'll probably want to set it up to play automatically whenever someone opens it. Fortunately, Google Slides includes an auto-play option for slideshows published online.

Click the File > Publish to the web menu option. The Publish to the web dialog box displays:

To set up your presentation to play automatically, click the checkbox to the left of the Start slideshow as soon as the player loads option.

You can also set your Google slideshow up so that it loops (starts over when it comes to the end). To do this, click the checkbox to the left of the Restart the slideshow after the last slide option.

When you've finished making your selections, click the Publish button.

Advanced Tip : When you publish your document online, anyone with the link can view it. A published slideshow can also be embedded in a document or on a website. But viewers can't change a published document or make comments. If you'd like for your viewers to collaborate with you by making changes or comments, don't publish it. Instead, use the Share button in the upper right corner.

Step 8. Change the Look and Feel of Your Presentation

Even after you've selected a template or theme for your Google Slides presentation, you're not "locked in." Easily change the look and feel of your presentation by applying another theme. This can be especially helpful if you're rebranding.

Changing the presentation theme gives you access to different master slides and master layouts. Look at this tutorial for detailed steps:

Also, don't forget that you can change the color and font of the text on any slide to further adjust your presentation as needed.

Step 9. How to Save, Restore, or Export Your Presentation

With Google Slides, it's not difficult to save your slideshow. That's because you don't have to do anything. Your presentation exists in the cloud. Any changes you make are saved automatically as you work.

Google Slides also stores earlier versions of your presentation. This means that if you revise your presentation then change your mind about those revisions, you can easily go back to an earlier version of your slide show. To do this, click the File > Version History > See Version History  menu option. A panel appears on the right listing previous versions of the presentation:

To restore an earlier version of the presentation, click on it in the Revision History panel. Then click the RESTORE THIS REVISION button that appears at the top of the screen.

You can also export your presentation to different formats, using the File > Download as menu option. You can export to the following formats:

• Microsoft PowerPoint (.pptx)
• Open Office Presentation (.odp)
• PDF Format (.pdf)
• Plain text (.txt)
• Graphic image of current slide (.jpg or .png)
• Scalable vector graphic of current slide (.svg)

For detailed instructions on how to convert a Google Slides presentation to PowerPoint, study this tutorial:

Advanced Tip : If you plan on publishing your presentation to SlideShare, PDF format works best.

Step 10. Give Your Presentation

Once you've finished your presentation, you're ready to give it. There are two ways to present your slideshow. You can:

• Publish it online.
• Present it live.

To publish your Google slide show online, use the File > Publish to web menu option. You'll get a link that you can embed on your website or share with your potential audience.

To present your presentation live, click the Present button at the top right of the screen:

There's more to giving a slideshow presentation in person than clicking a button, though. To give a good slideshow presentation, you need to practice. The more practice you get, the smoother your presentation will be.

Also, if you find yourself a bit nervous about giving a presentation, this tutorial can help:

Review this tutorial for some tips on how to give your presentation:

If you're in a hurry to make a simple Google Slides presentation, review this quick tutorial:

5 Top Tips for Google Slideshows for Business (In 2021)

We’ve explored how to make a slideshow on Google Slides for business. But to succeed every time, it helps to embrace the latest tips. These five quick ideas help you make the best impression possible:

1. Keep Slides Readable

Always think of how to create a presentation in Google Slides that’s easy to read. Remember, you might be presenting in a large room. Cluttered slides and small fonts will be hard for audiences to follow.

It pays to choose readable layouts with large text and plenty of open space. Often, these have a minimalist look that’s popular in 2021. They’re how to make a professional slideshow that wows any audience.

2. Use Your Brand Colors

As you build your presentation, you need to think of how to make a professional slideshow stand out. A great way is to use your brand colors. This makes your deck more unique, and much more memorable.

Google Slides makes it easy to customize colors. Learn how to create a presentation in Google Slides with custom colors today:

3. Choose Engaging Layouts

When you present, you sometimes find yourself losing the attention of your audience. One of the top ways to combat this is to choose engaging layouts for your 2021 business presentation.

Layouts that capture focus help you communicate your message. This helps you succeed. Plus, it keeps others happy by giving them something compelling to see.

4. Add Custom Fonts

Let’s face it: generic fonts are getting boring. In 2021, you need something better. That’s where custom fonts come in. These upgrade the look of any slide deck. 

If you need to find cool, unique fonts, head for Envato Elements. As a subscriber, you have unlimited downloads of thousands of custom fonts .

Need to know how to create a presentation in Google Slides with custom fonts? Learn how to add them in seconds with our quick tutorial:

5. Illustrate Data and Ideas

Words count, but you need to imagine how to create a presentation in Google Slides that’s truly engaging. Infographics help you do it. These are illustrations that combine information and graphics to showcase ideas.

Infographics illustrate processes, timelines, and more. And thanks to premium Envato Elements templates, they’re incredibly easy to build. Simply swap out placeholder text and graphics, and you’re all set.

5 Top Professional Google Slides Templates

You just saw the easy steps you can take to totally customize a Google Slides template for business. No matter what template you start with, it's easy to use a template to help you learn how to use Google Slides.

Let's look at five of the best professional Google Slides templates on Envato Elements:

Professional presentations like this business Google Slides theme are the perfect way to show your portfolio and ideas. Hasta is a professional slideshow for creators, students, and designers.

The modern and simple slide design is 100% customizable. This professional Google Slides template features 40+ unique slides. They're built for sharing about your team, timelines, services, vision and mission, and more.

2.  Splasher

Splasher is a creative and professional Google Slides template to use for your next presentation. There are five color variations for this modern and clean design. Image placeholders make it simple to customize this professional slideshow. The fun and well-designed infographics will keep your audience focused on the data you're presenting.

Using a Google Drive slideshow doesn't mean you've got to sacrifice professionalism. Margo is a perfect example of that. Crisp and professional, this business Google Slides theme is ideal for corporate settings. Easily drag and drop your photos into the placeholders, add your information, and voila! You're ready for your next big presentation.

Make a strong impact during your next presentation with Ocant. This professional Google Slides template features infographics well suited for sales and marketing presentations. Graphics in this business Google Slides theme are resizable and editable. Crafting the perfect presentation has never been easier than with this professional slideshow.

5.  Clean Modern Presentation Google Slide

This professional Google Slides template is perfect for the person learning how to use Google Slides. The subdued tones and clean lines of this design make for a straightforward and professional slideshow. Sometimes simple is best when it comes to professional presentations. This professional Google Slides template is a perfect example of that.

More Templates for Professional Google Slideshows for Business (2021)

We’ve seen how to make a slideshow on Google Slides. As you can see, templates are the best way to get started. They’re how to make a professional slideshow fast. Let’s look at more great template collections to jumpstart your 2021 presentations:

Common Google Slides Questions Answered (FAQ)

You've been learning how to make a slideshow on Google Slides. This powerful, web-based tool is more than enough to build a presentation that'll wow your colleagues and clients.

It's totally normal to still have questions as you explore how to make a professional slideshow. Let's tackle five of the most popular questions about Google Slides:

1. Can You Create Custom Templates in Google Slides?

After you've begun to conquer how to make a slideshow on Google Slides, you might be feeling inspired. Maybe you're ready to create a template of your own and share it with others. 

You can create templates that are easy to re-use. It's a great way to share your knowledge of how to make a professional slideshow. Read the tutorial to learn how to create templates of your own:

2. What Formats Does Google Slides Support?

Google Slides might not be your go-to presentation app. In that case, maybe learning how to make a slideshow on Google Slides means adapting your habits and skills from another app like PowerPoint.

One way to conquer the learning curve is to convert your existing PowerPoint templates to Google Slides. That means that you'll be more comfortable working with a familiar template, and you can learn to do just that below.

3. What's the Best Way to Show Data in Google Slides?

Data rules the world. Every day, we lean on it more to inform our decisions. So, as you're learning how to make a professional slideshow, you might be wondering how to show data in Google Slides.

Use charts and graphs to show data brought to life. Click the link below to see how to make a slideshow on Google Slides with three data-driven examples.

4. How Do I Print Google Slides?

Ready for your presentation to leap off the screen and onto paper? You might be looking to learn how to print your Google Slides.

After you've learned how to make a slideshow in Google Slides, round out your skills by printing the finished product. Add to your skills in just 60 seconds with the help of this tutorial:

5. Does Google Slides Support Custom Fonts?

When you're learning how to create a Google Slides presentation, you might want to get creative with your design. And if you signed up already for Envato Elements, maybe you're thinking of tapping into the incredible library of custom fonts . Best of all: they work with Google Slides.

If you want to see how to make a professional slideshow with custom fonts on Google Slides, don't miss our helpful video tutorial below. It doesn't take long to learn how to make a slideshow on Google Slides that includes a fun or creative font choice.

Learn More About Google Slides

My favorite thing about Google Slides is that it's a fully featured app. It's amazing that it lives inside of a web browser because there are so many tools and options. 

To master the app, we've got an outstanding resource for you, the How to Use Google Slides (Ultimate Tutorial Guide.)   It's got a ton of tutorials that help you master the app and build your most professional slideshow.

As you're learning how to use Google Slides, start with these three tutorials:

Make Great Presentations ( Free PDF eBook Download )

Also, we've got the perfect complement to this tutorial, which will walk you through the complete presentation process. Learn how to write your presentation, design it like a pro, and prepare it to present powerfully. 

Download our new eBook:  The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations . It's available for free with a subscription to the Tuts+ Business Newsletter. 

You may also wish to refer to the following tutorial for even more tips to make your presentation more professional: 

Let Us Know How Well Your Presentation Lands

You can create a professional Google Slides slideshow presentation from scratch. Follow along with this guide and refer to the linked resources for more detailed instructions when you need them.

We highly recommend using a Google Slides template. You can build a professional slideshow so much easier with the Envato Elements library. And you'll find single purchase professional Google Slides templates   for business on GraphicRiver. Both are amazing options for pro presenters!

Did you give your presentation already? How did it go? What worked well? What would you do differently? Drop a note in the comments below and let us know how it went. 

Note : This tutorial was originally published on September 12, 2017. It's been comprehensively updated by Andrew Childress . 

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You can also create new presentations from the URL https://slides.google.com/create .

Import and convert an existing presentation

Converting your file from another program creates a copy of your original file in a Docs, Sheets, or Slides format. You can then edit the file in your browser.

If you have existing files, you can import and convert them to Docs, Sheets, or Slides.

• Go to Drive .

• Choose the file you want to import from your computer to add it to Drive.

Have a Microsoft file?

If you've already stored Microsoft files in Drive, you can also update them without converting them .

Add a slide with the same layout as the current slide

• On your computer, open a presentation in Google Slides .

Add a slide with a different layout

• Choose a slide.

Add a slide with your organization's branding

• At right, click the template you want to use.

Note: The Templates option appears only if your administrator makes organization-branded slides available.

Update your presentation

Choose a theme and layout.

When you first create a presentation, you can choose a theme for your slides. A theme is a preset group of colors, fonts, background, and layouts. Your presentation's layout is the way your text and images are arranged on a slide.

Change your presentation's theme

• On the right, click the theme you want.

Change the layout of your presentation

• Select a slide.
• At the top, click Layout .
• Choose the layout you want to use.

Arrange slides

Move slide —Drag the slide to a different position in the presentation. To move several slides at once, Ctrl+click  multiple slides before dragging them.

Delete slide —Right-click the slide and select Delete .

Duplicate slide —Right-click the slide in the sidebar and select Duplicate slide .

Add pictures, text, speaker notes, and more

Rename your presentation —Click Untitled presentation and enter a new name.

Add videos, shapes, charts, and more —Click Insert to add videos, shapes, charts, slide numbers, and other features to your presentation. You can also move, delete, or re-size these inserted features.

Add speaker notes —Use speaker notes to keep track of your talking points for each slide. In the presentation editor, speaker notes appear beneath the current slide. When you present your slides, your speaker notes show in a separate window.

Google, Google Workspace, and related marks and logos are trademarks of Google LLC. All other company and product names are trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.

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Google Slides 101: Tips and Tricks Every Teacher Needs To Know

Everything you need to become an expert in no time!

Google Slides is a favorite teaching tool for many educators, both in person and online. With a huge selection of free features and options, this powerhouse allows teachers to create dynamic, interactive presentations that really engage their students. Whether you’re new to Google Slides or are looking to up your game, these resources will help you make the most of it.

Start with the basics

If this is all new to you, watch this video to see how to create simple Google Slides. It walks you through the process one step at a time. Plus, grab a free Google Slides Cheat Sheet from Shake It Up Learning .

Share slides with your students

You aren’t limited to using slideshows to accompany in-class presentations. Share them with students to use when studying, assign them as homework or for asynchronous learning, or create interactive slides (more on that below). Assigning Google Slides to your students is easy in Google Classroom. Teaching With Jennifer Findlay shows you how it’s done.

Use themes and templates

Jeoparty! Theme from SlidesCarnival

Google Slides themes are a pre-set group of colors, fonts, backgrounds, and layouts.  You may sometimes see themes called “templates”—these two terms are interchangeable and work in the same way. Themes/templates allow you to enter your own information but save you a lot of time by taking care of the overall look and layout for you.

Doodles Theme from SlidesMania

You’ll find a variety of themes built into the program itself (watch the Google Basics video above to see how to use them). You’ll also find thousands more available for free or purchase online. Using them is generally as simple as clicking a link and then choosing “Use Template” to customize.

Add sounds to Google Slides

Adding sounds like music or narration can make your slide presentation a lot more interesting. Play bird songs in a lesson on ornithology, listen to a concerto as you discuss Mozart, or even create your own read-aloud. Narrated slides are terrific for asynchronous learning situations too. Learn how to add audio from Fluxing Well.

Don’t forget video

The nice thing about embedding a video directly in your Google Slides presentation is that you (or your students) don’t have to worry about clicking over to another window or website. Instead, you can simply set the video to play automatically (or once the Play button is clicked). You can use YouTube videos, videos from other sites, or those you’ve created yourself. (Pro tip: You can set a video to start and stop at any time you like !)

Make your Google Slides interactive

If you think a slideshow is something for students to sit and watch passively, Google Slides is here to prove you wrong. Have kids click on correct answers, type in text, and a whole lot more. This in-depth video demonstrates the entire process. Get more info from Super Sass and Science Class.

Choice boards are a popular way to make slides interactive. This video has the quick how-to.

Drag-and-drop slides are another terrific way to draw learners into a slide presentation. It’s amazing how much of a difference this makes in student engagement!

Link to internal slides and external sites

Adding links really ups the interactivity of your slides and turns them into self-directed activities in a snap. You can link kids to other pages in the slides for self-checking assessments or to external sources like websites or Google Classroom docs. This is one (easy) skill every teacher should master.

Check out Google Slides add-ons

Google Slides itself has lots of features, but you can also get lots of (often free) add-ons to make certain tasks easier. Add-ons are available to make diagrams, find better images, and display math equations … just to name a few. Ditch That Textbook has a list of 20 add-ons all teachers should try here.

Source: Maneuvering the Middle

One add-on teachers swear by is Pear Deck . It makes it easy to drop in formative assessments and evaluate student progress. The basic program is free for all users; learn how it works here .

Get in on the Bitmoji classroom trend

Those Bitmoji classrooms that are all the rage are right at home on Google Slides. Learn more about these virtual classrooms here, including how to make your own.

If you’re really ambitious, you can “animate” your Bitmoji to create a cool effect that kids will enjoy. It takes a bit of time, but as this video shows, it’s really not that hard to do.

Teach students to use Google Slides

Once students know how to use the program, there are all sorts of awesome assignments they can take on. Even elementary kids can learn how it works. Two Boys and a Dad has an awesome free project to get them started. Once they’ve got the basic skills, here are a few ideas to try.

Challenge your students to create an e-book using slides. Have them illustrate their creative writing, or try it for a different twist on a standard report. Get the quick tutorial from Shake Up Learning.

Digital interactive notebooks make it easy for you to monitor student progress, online or in-person. Plus, no more worries about kids “forgetting” to bring their notebook! Two Boys and a Dad shows you how they work. Make your own, or find ready-to-use templates on the web like this one from Student Savvy .

Looking for more ways to use Google Slides? Learn How Teachers Can Plan and Use Virtual “Stations” Online.

Plus, 30+ Virtual Learning Platforms and Tools for Teachers and Kids .

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Spectrum just raised its prices again, chrome is top dog, but firefox is still my favorite browser, quick links, set up autoplay and loop when presenting, set up autoplay and loop when publishing to the web.

If you don't want to worry about clicking through your slideshow, you can set up Google Slides to play your presentation automatically. Plus, you can have the slideshow loop, so it starts over at the beginning when it ends.

You might be playing your slideshow at a kiosk, during a conference, or publishing it to the web. These are the ideal times to use AutoPlay and Loop in Google Slides . You can automatically present the show and choose the timing between slides. Then, restart the presentation at the beginning each time it ends.

If you plan to start the slideshow and then let it play, you can set up AutoPlay and Loop , or simply one or the other.

Related: How to Loop a PowerPoint Presentation

Start the presentation by clicking "Slideshow" at the top of Google Slides. You can also use the arrow to pick either "Presenter View" or "Start From Beginning" per your preference.

When the slideshow opens, display the Presenter Toolbar by hovering your cursor over the bottom left corner of the presentation.

Click the three dots on the right of the Presenter Toolbar, then move to AutoPlay. You'll see a pop-out menu that lets you select the advance timing for the slides. You can pick from every second up to every minute.

If you also want to loop the slideshow, select "Loop" at the bottom of the pop-out menu.

When you finish, click "Play" to automatically play your presentation.

To stop the slideshow, simply click on a slide. You can then resume AutoPlay from the Presenter Toolbar by selecting "Play" again.

Maybe you plan to publish your slideshow to the web or embed it on a website rather than play it locally. You can set up AutoPlay and Loop as part of the publish settings.

Related: How to Share a Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides File as a Web Page

Go to File > Publish to the Web in the menu.

Choose either "Link" or "Embed" per your intent. Then use the Auto-Advance Slides drop-down box to choose the timing for the slides. Here again, you can pick from every second up to every minute.

To loop the slideshow, check the box for Restart the Slideshow After the Last Slide.

You can then mark the checkbox for Start Slideshow as Soon as the Player loads if you like, so that the viewer doesn't have to take any action to begin the presentation.

When you finish, click "Publish" and confirm to obtain the link or embed code for the slideshow.

To share a Google Slides presentation that doesn't require you to walk viewers through it, remember these steps to automatically play and loop the slideshow.

• Google Slides

Home Blog Presentation Ideas How to Make a Presentation Longer: 7 Strategies to Master

How to Make a Presentation Longer: 7 Strategies to Master

A common question asked by presenters is how to extend a presentation’s duration. This can be because they feel the topic is covered superficially for the audience’s knowledge level or because they find themselves intimidated by the allocated time slot. Either way, adding filler content without care can lead to losing audience interest and significantly impact the presentation’s effectiveness.

The key to making a presentation longer without compromising quality lies in enhancing content depth, utilizing visual and interactive elements, and effectively managing the timing of the delivery. In this article, we will explore seven different strategies for extending a presentation’s length while preserving its quality and ensuring the additional time is meaningful.

Table of Contents

Strategy 1 – Expanding Content Depth

Strategy 2 – enhancing visuals and multimedia, strategy 3 – interactive elements and audience engagement, strategy 4 – revisiting and recapping, strategy 5 – time management and pacing, strategy 6 – supplementary materials and handouts, strategy 7 – enhancing the introduction and conclusion, final words.

As we previously mentioned, the feeling that the presentation can go much in depth is frequent when presenters have to simplify the complexity of their ideas (check our article on how to present complex concepts for more information) to meet the audience’s knowledge level. This can either work or be a total disaster if the presentation is trimmed without considering if the audience is getting a clear picture of what you’re explaining.

N.B.: If you’re wondering how to simplify explanations in your presentation to speak with a non-technical audience, check our article on applying Feynman’s Technique for presentations . 

Revisiting Core Topics: Adding Depth to Key Points

Start by reviewing the main topics of your presentation. Identify areas where you can provide additional insights or expand on existing points. This could involve discussing the historical context, exploring underlying theories, or addressing potential counterarguments. By doing so, you not only lengthen your presentation but also offer a more thorough exploration of the subject matter. This is a strategy commonly applied in thesis presentations .

For example, if your presentation is on marketing strategies, you could delve into the psychological principles behind consumer behavior or discuss the evolution of marketing trends over the years. This added depth can provide valuable context and make your presentation more compelling.

Providing Additional Examples and Case Studies

Real-world examples and case studies are powerful tools that help illustrate key points and make abstract concepts more relatable. By including more examples and detailed case studies, you can extend the length of your presentation while enhancing its practical value.

Consider breaking down elaborate examples step-by-step, analyzing the outcomes, and discussing lessons learned. You can also compare multiple case studies to highlight different approaches or outcomes, adding depth and duration to your presentation. An ideal tool for such a purpose is a comparison chart .

Integrating Data and Statistics

Data and statistics add credibility and authority to your presentation. More data points, charts, and graphs can help you fill additional time while supporting your arguments with concrete evidence.

When presenting data , take the time to explain its significance, how it was gathered, and what it means in the context of your topic. This will add length and ensure that your audience fully understands the importance of the information presented.

Visual elements and multimedia can significantly contribute to a presentation’s overall length and quality. By thoughtfully incorporating more slides, videos, and interactive media, you can both extend your presentation and make it more visually appealing.

Using More Slides with Detailed Information

One simple way to extend your presentation is by adding more slides. However, it’s essential to ensure that these slides contribute meaningful content. Apply one of the core concepts of the 10-20-30 rule of PowerPoint presentations and deliver one idea per slide.

For instance, if discussing a new software tool, you could dedicate one slide to its features, another to its benefits, and additional slides to real-world applications. This approach allows you to cover more ground without overwhelming your audience with too much information on a single slide.

Adding Videos and Animations

Working with video presentations and adding animations to PowerPoint slide decks can effectively increase the length of your presentation while providing a dynamic change of pace. Videos can serve as powerful visual aids, offering demonstrations, testimonials, or additional context that might be difficult to convey through text alone.

Ensure that any videos or animations used are directly relevant to the content and add value to the presentation. You can also pause after the video to discuss its content in detail, further extending the time. Another tip we can mention from our experience is to test the control buttons for the video, as sometimes presenters lose a lot of time trying to stop or rewind a video if a question arises.

Incorporating Infographics and Diagrams

Presentation infographics and diagrams are valuable tools for summarizing complex information in a visually engaging way. By taking the time to explain each component of an infographic or diagram, you can extend your presentation while helping your audience better understand the material.

For example, if your presentation involves explaining a process, a flowchart or diagram can break down each step. You can then discuss each part in detail, highlighting its significance and how it contributes to the overall process.

Let’s be clear: audience engagement is THE power element to extend your presentation’s length. This can be as simple as incorporating exercises inside your presentations, like questions to let the audience think about an idea. This section will explore three different approaches to boosting engagement through audience interaction.

Including Q&A Sessions

Designating specific times for Q&A sessions throughout the presentation effectively engages your audience and extends the presentation’s length. Encourage your audience to ask questions about the content you’ve covered and provide thorough answers.

If you anticipate questions that require more detailed responses, consider preparing additional slides or materials to support your answers. This lengthens the presentation and ensures that your audience feels their questions are being addressed comprehensively.

Q&A sessions don’t have to be neglected to the final part of your presentation. You can add them in the middle after defining a series of concepts and then engage with the audience to test their understanding until that point.

Utilizing Polls and Surveys

Interactive presentation elements like polls and surveys are great tools for involving your audience and gathering real-time feedback. You can use polling software to ask questions during the presentation, and the results will be displayed instantly on the screen, or work with a traditional method like survey PPT templates .

After each poll, discuss the results. You can compare them to industry data or research and explore what the answers might imply about your audience’s perspectives. This interaction extends the presentation and makes it more engaging for participants.

Encouraging Group Discussions

This strategy is commonly used in motivational presentations when speakers invite their audience to do two—to three-minute exercises in which a question is asked between pairs. 

After the group discussions, bring the audience together to share insights and observations. You can then comment on these points, adding your own perspective and tying the discussion back to the main content of your presentation.

Revisiting key points and providing recaps is a highly effective strategy for increasing content retention while extending the duration of your presentation.

Summarizing Key Points After Each Section

Summarize the key points at the end of each major section of your presentation. This reinforces the material and helps the audience retain the information.

Briefly recapping the content allows you to transition smoothly into the next section, which can naturally lengthen the presentation. This practice not only aids retention but also ensures that your audience stays on track with the flow of the presentation. Additionally, it can be a good strategy if the slide deck is repurposed in PDF format so the audience can revisit each section and remember the concepts.

Providing Multiple Recaps Throughout the Presentation

In addition to summarizing after each section, consider including recaps at various points throughout your presentation. These could be more detailed and involve revisiting earlier content in light of new information presented later.

For instance, if you introduce a concept early in the presentation, you could revisit it in a new context, showing how it applies to a different aspect of your topic. This would extend the presentation and deepen the audience’s understanding of the content.

We’ve spoken in the past about the importance of time management in leadership . For presenters, time management is as clear as understanding which is the adequate pacing for your speech, which areas to prioritize, and where you feel you can add an extra edge for the sake of improving your performance as a presenter.

Slowing Down Delivery for Emphasis

Presenters can naturally extend their presentation by slowing down their delivery, particularly when emphasizing key points. Speaking more slowly and deliberately can give your audience time to absorb the information and reflect on your words.

This approach also gives you the opportunity to elaborate on important concepts, ask rhetorical questions, and create a more thoughtful, measured pace for your presentation.

Practicing to Ensure Adequate Timing

Practice is essential for acknowledging that your presentation is the correct length. By rehearsing multiple times, you can identify areas where you can slow down, add more detail, or insert pauses for reflection or interaction.

Consider timing yourself during practice runs to see where you might need to extend or shorten sections. This will help you achieve a balanced, well-paced presentation that meets your time goals. 

Providing supplementary materials and handouts can add depth to your presentation and extend its duration by encouraging ongoing engagement with the content.

Preparing Extended Handouts

Create detailed presentation handouts that expand on the content of your talk. These can include additional information, resources for further reading, or detailed explanations of complex topics.

Refer to these handouts during the presentation and walk through them with your audience. This not only extends the presentation but also ensures that the audience has access to valuable take-home materials.

Distributing Reading Materials During the Presentation

If appropriate, you can distribute reading materials during the presentation and give the audience time to read them before continuing. These could be articles, reports, or any other document that adds to the presentation content.

After the reading, take the time to discuss the material with the audience, asking for their thoughts or providing your analysis. This is a well-known method of encouraging active learning in presentations.

Using Post-Presentation Content for Extended Engagement

To extend engagement after the presentation, consider offering additional content or activities. This could include follow-up emails with additional resources, online discussions, or even a webinar that delves deeper into the topic.

The introduction and conclusion of a presentation are critical moments that set the stage and leave a lasting impression. Expanding these sections can effectively lengthen your presentation while ensuring it is impactful from start to finish.

Starting with a Detailed Introduction

Presenters often dwell on the best way to start a presentation . A well-crafted introduction does more than just outline the structure of your presentation—it sets the tone and provides context that can draw in your audience. Take time to introduce the topic comprehensively, explaining why it matters and how it relates to the audience’s interests or challenges.

You might also include a brief overview of what led you to explore the topic, such as personal experiences, research findings, or current industry trends. This adds a narrative element to your presentation, making it more engaging and setting the stage for the detailed content to follow.

Additionally, consider using an anecdote, a thought-provoking question, or a surprising statistic to hook your audience from the start. These elements capture attention and allow you to explore the topic from different angles, thus extending the length of your introduction.

Expanding on the Conclusion with Actionable Takeaways

The conclusion of your presentation should do more than simply recap the content—it should also offer actionable takeaways that the audience can apply in their own work or lives. Take the time to clearly articulate these takeaways, explaining why they are important and how they can be implemented.

You can also revisit any questions or challenges posed in the introduction, providing answers or solutions based on the content covered in the presentation. This full-circle approach reinforces the material and adds additional time as you guide the audience through applying what they’ve learned.

Consider ending with a call to action slide , encouraging your audience to take specific steps based on the information presented. Whether it’s implementing a new strategy, conducting further research, or simply reflecting on the insights shared, a strong conclusion with clear next steps can significantly extend the duration of your presentation while leaving a lasting impact.

We’ve explored seven ways of creating more meaningful time in your presentations, several of which encourage active audience participation. Working on your presentation skills is a good idea to optimize your abilities in handling transitions, unexpected pauses, unplanned questions, and any inconvenience that can divert your attention from the planned course. 

Whether you are preparing for a business, academic, or public speaking event, the strategies outlined in this article provide a comprehensive guide to ensuring your presentation is both longer and more impactful.

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Difference Between Google Slides and PowerPoint Templates

If you’re going to make a presentation where these tools are significantly necessary, then the choice will surely affect how you work and what final product you will have. Both tools have different features that suit different purposes. Here’s an in-depth comparison that will help you decide which one’s for you.

Accessibility and Collaboration

Certainly, one of the greatest benefits of Google Slides free  lies in terms of accessibility. Since it is a cloud-based platform, Google Slides Free allows you to open and edit any kind of presentations from any device with an internet connection. This becomes very helpful, especially when some people need to work on presentations from several places or using various devices. Other than that, Google Slides Free excels in real-time collaboration. This comes in handy when it is a team project; many users can edit and even comment on the presentation at the same time.

Although traditionally linked with the desktop variant of PowerPoint, Free PowerPoint Templates now define the online version for PowerPoint Online. However, in reality, the majority of users make use of the offline variant, which somewhat causes issues with accessibility as compared to Google Slides. Indeed, PowerPoint does permit real-time collaboration, but often these collaboration features call for a subscription to Microsoft 365, and the process isn’t as smooth as Google Slides.

Variety of Templates and Customization

While both Google Slides Themes free and Free PowerPoint Templates offer a wide array of templates, there are some considerable differences. Free Google Slides have simply an overall choice of template varieties for fast and easy customization. These can be ideal for people who want simplicity and ease.

On the other hand, Free PPT Templates has an even more exhaustive library on detailed designs that include complex animations and transitions. This will make the PowerPoint a better choice to create visually appealing presentations. Besides, PowerPoint is also ultra-customizable, providing greater design flexibility and creativity.

User Interface and Learning Curve

Google Slides Free has an interface that is really clean and simple to use, perfect for beginners or someone who wants a more simplistic design process. With a very gradual learning curve, Google Slides allows users to easily create professional presentations without much training.

The user interface of PowerPoint, though easy to use, has more features. For advanced users, all these features make it easier to prepare a presentation. To the new user, however, the options provided overwhelm them, and they require more time to learn them.

Integration with Other Tools

Google Slides Free works well with other apps in the Google Workspace suite, such as Google Docs, Sheets, and Drive. This makes it easy to flow from one document or type of data to another, increasing productivity and ease.

PowerPoint integrates much better with other applications in the Microsoft Office suite, like Word and Excel. This is quite useful for users based heavily on Microsoft’s ecosystem. On the other side, free Google Slides comes in with more varied, and flexible third-party app and plugin integrations than PowerPoint does.

Cost and Availability

The core functionality is available for free in both Google Slides Themes and Free PowerPoint Templates. Google Slides Free comes at no cost at all; there aren’t any premium features or surprise Type-Of-Service fees. PowerPoint is available as a part of Office 365, but the full suite of features generally requires a subscription. The free version of PowerPoint Online is significantly more basic than the desktop variant, which pretty much limits it for those looking to use some features without having to pay for a subscription.

While the debate between Free Google Slides and Free PowerPoint Templates rages on, what you will decide is greatly determined by your needs and tastes. If this is a cloud-based solution with brilliant collaboration features you want to have and then easily share, Google Slides Free is better. If, on the other hand, it is an extended range of templates that is needed, further advanced possibilities for customization, or even integration into the Microsoft Office ecosystem, the choice should be Free PowerPoint Templates.

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Pramod Malnatchi

Pramod Malnatchi is an experienced content strategist with over 3 years of active practice. He excels at using his broad experience to provide clear, concise, and interesting data-driven content in different niches. With his skills in PowerPoint presentations and Google Slides, Pramod is capable of making an idea visually interesting in terms of presentation. He ensures the quality and accuracy of information in every project by doing thorough research and consulting with experts in the field.

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Different Types of Slides for Your Presentations

Table of Contents

Presentations are a great way to share information and ideas. Whether you’re selling a product, teaching a class, or showing off your work, the slides you use can make a big difference.

There are many different kinds of slides you can add to your presentations, each with its own purpose and advantages. By knowing the different types of slides and how to use them well, you can create interesting and informative presentations that will stick with your audience.

Different Types of Slides

There are many different types of slides that you can use in your presentations. Some of the most common types include:

Opening Slides

1. title slide.

The title slide is your chance to make a strong first impression and set the tone for your presentation. It should clearly convey the topic, your identity, and relevant details. A good title is both practical and creative.

The main title is the focal point and should be concise yet descriptive. Use a large font size that’s easy to read from a distance. If needed, add a subtitle for more context. Clearly state your name, job title, and affiliation. Include the date and venue for reference.

Design your slide to reflect your brand or personal style using logos, colors, and fonts. Keep it clean and uncluttered for a professional look. Remember, less is more. Use high contrast for readability and avoid distracting background images. Consider adding subtle effects like fade-in or morph for visual interest.

2. Agenda Slide

Agenda slides serve as a valuable tool for guiding your audience through the structure of your presentation. By outlining the main topics and their expected duration, you can help them anticipate the flow of information and manage their expectations.

This is especially beneficial for lengthy presentations or academic talks where a clear roadmap can enhance understanding and engagement.

When creating an agenda slide, consider including the following elements:

• Clear Topic List: Present a concise and well-organized list of the main topics to be covered.
• Optional Timings: Indicate the estimated duration of each section to provide a sense of pacing.
• Visual Progress Indicator: Use checkmarks, arrows, or other visual cues to highlight the current topic and show what’s ahead.
• Distinctive Headings: Use clear and concise headings to visually separate different sections.
• Hyperlink Integration: If using PowerPoint, consider adding hyperlinks to specific slides to ensure smooth navigation and avoid abrupt jumps.

Learn more on How to Create Agenda Slides in Powerpoint .

Transitional Slides

Transitional slides act like bridges that connect different parts of your presentation. They help your audience smoothly move from one topic to the next. These slides are important because they:

• Clearly Signal a Change: Let your audience know that you’re moving on to something new.
• Keep the Audience Engaged: Prevent sudden jumps between topics, helping them stay focused.
• Make Your Presentation More Visually Interesting: Add variety and visual appeal.

Here are some examples of transitional slides:

3. Quote Slide

Quote slides incorporate wisdom, authority, or inspiration from renowned sources into your presentations. They can provide strong support for your arguments or motivate your audience.

These slides are perfect for emphasizing a point, sparking thought, or introducing a new direction in your presentation. Use them to highlight the importance of an idea.

Here are the elements of a quote slide:

• The Quote: Clearly presented and attributed to the speaker or writer. The text should be easy to read and emphasized to stand out.
• Author’s Name and Credentials: Provide context by including the author’s name and, if relevant, their qualifications or why they are an expert on the topic.
• Related Imagery or Background: An image or design that matches the theme of the quote can make it more impactful.

Consider using a quote presentation template with a professional layout. You can find something directly on SlidesAI . For readability, ensure there is a good contrast between the text and the background. Text boxes with backgrounds are often used. If you use an image, choose one that enhances the text, not competes with it.

4. Image Slides

Image slides can significantly make your presentations better by gaining attention with their visual appeal and transitions. For a smooth flow, use a full-screen image with a fade effect. To create a more dynamic experience, experiment with the Morph transition between slides featuring overlapping images.

You can also build anticipation with a thematic image series that subtly connects your topics. Remember to keep these transitions concise and impactful to maintain your audience’s attention.

Closing Slides

5. q&a slide.

Q&A slides are often used in presentations for various reasons. For instance, some presenters like to ask questions to the audience after their presentation and answer any questions they may have.

Other presentations might encourage the audience or panel members to ask questions throughout the presentation. If you’re planning to incorporate Q&A into your presentation, consider using some well-designed templates to make a positive impression.

6. CTA Slides

A call-to-action slide, or CTA slide for short, serves to encourage viewers to take a specific step after your presentation. This could range from initiating a conversation to purchasing a product or service, or even engaging in a project.

Typically placed at the end, following the concluding remarks and thank you slide, the CTA aims to spark immediate action. Here’s what makes a strong CTA slide:

•  A Clear Direction: The heart of the CTA itself should be direct and persuasive. Think of something like “Register Now,” “Join Our Team,” or “Visit Us Online.”
• Reasons to Act: Briefly remind viewers of the benefits they reap by taking action. This strengthens the appeal and motivates them to follow through.
• Contact Information or Links: Make it easy for them to act! Include all necessary links or contact details so viewers know exactly where to go next.
• Visually Appealing Design: Grab their attention! Use a design that pops and features large, easy-to-read text. Opt for strong, action-oriented language to drive the message home.

7. Summary Slide

A summary slide is a great way to give your viewers an overview of the presentation once it ends. By recapping everything that was presented, summary slides make it easier to remember the most important takeaways.

A summary slide should include:

• Important Points: Clearly summarize the main points covered in your presentation.
• Visual Recap: Use simple visuals like graphics, charts, or callouts to visually represent significant data or conclusions.
• Concluding Remark: End with a sentence or two that encapsulates the overall message or conclusion of your presentation
• Maintain consistency in styling throughout your presentation for a cohesive look.
• Use color or size variations to emphasize the hierarchy of concepts summarized.

Closing Thoughts

Understanding the different types of slides and how to use them can significantly enhance your presentations. Feel free to mix and match slides based on your needs and presentation style. By choosing the right slides, you can create a more engaging presentation that leaves a lasting impression on your audience.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which are the important slides for any presentation.

The core slides include:

• Title Slide: Captures attention with your presentation title, your name, and affiliation (if applicable).
• Agenda Slide: Briefly outline the key points you’ll cover, setting expectations for your audience.
• Closing Slide: Summarize your main takeaways and leave a lasting impression.

I have a ton of data. Should I use a text-heavy slide or a chart?

Charts win every time! Bullet points and dense text overload audiences. Visualize your data with clear charts (bar graphs, pie charts) to make it easily digestible.

Can I use images and videos in my slides?

Absolutely! High-quality visuals like pictures, infographics, and short videos can boost engagement and illustrate complex concepts. Just ensure they’re relevant and add value.

How can I make my slides more visually appealing?

Maintain a consistent color scheme, use high-resolution images, and avoid clutter. Explore presentation software features like animations and transitions, but use them sparingly to avoid distraction.

How can I find high-quality visual templates for my slides? 

There are many resources available! Many presentation software programs like SlidesAI offer built-in image libraries. You can also find free stock photo websites or purchase royalty-free images from online marketplaces. Remember to check licensing requirements before using any visuals.

Are there any slide types I should avoid?

Slides overloaded with text are a major turn-off for audiences. Aim for visuals and concise points. Similarly, avoid excessive animations and transitions, which can be distracting.

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