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How to Create a Slide Deck in PowerPoint

A commonly used term when working with presentations is “slide deck,” but what exactly do we mean by that? Should you be familiar with some core terms before making your first presentation?

As we believe continuous education is key for presenters, regardless of their presentation skill level, today, we will talk about presentation deck meaning, how to build a presentation deck, and which elements define success in this process. Additionally, for a broader understanding and skill enhancement in making effective presentations, our section on how to make a presentation offers valuable insights and practical tips. Without further ado, let’s get started!

Table of Contents

What is a Slide?

What is a slide deck, what should be included in a powerpoint slide deck, recommended slide decks for any kind of presentation.

A PowerPoint slide can be defined as a digital canvas in which we organize information and ideas in a visual format, primarily oriented for professional settings like business presentations, conferences, or academic presentations. People instantly associate slides with PowerPoint due to Microsoft PowerPoint being the industry-leading software in presentation software, offering full compatibility format with free software options like Google Slides.

The starting point of any slide is a blank canvas to which you can add a title, and you’ve got plenty of space to insert images, draw shapes, add videos to your presentations, and more. PowerPoint has a standard layout for its blank slides, as shown below. This layout can be modified by accessing Slide Master in PowerPoint .

Each slide is a single page of a presentation and can be edited to meet the requirements of any presenter without meaning you alter the following slides. Remember, presentation software tends to work with destructive workflow methodologies – meaning the changes you make cannot be reverted if you save the file and try to access it later. If you want to test multiple design options on a single slide, we highly recommend you create individual slides for each design or even save them as different file names so you can revert to a previous stage without inconvenience.

A slide deck or PPT deck is a collection of slides curated for a sole purpose: serving as visual aids for a presentation topic. These slides can contain multiple tools like charts and graphs , placeholder text areas, icons, dashboard display, illustrations (in the format of vector images), and way more depending on three key elements:

• Build quality: How much effort the creator put into crafting the slides.
• Software: Although compatible, PowerPoint decks may offer some effects that aren’t available in Google Slides. For that reason, creators often flag animated slides or slide decks containing complex shadow effects as only PowerPoint-compatible.
• Topic: A presentation deck intended to present a marketing plan won’t contain the same elements as one intended to deliver a motivational talk. 

Before deciding how to start a presentation , select a slide deck compatible with the topic your presentation is geared toward.

We like to work with the method of using one topic per slide. This means not overpopulating your slides with content for the sake of showing content. Such practices affect readability and the overall understanding of your presentation.

Instead, we will teach you how to curate content in your slide decks by taking pitch deck templates as an example. 

Say we select the Executive Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template . This pitch deck is intended to introduce potential investors to what the business is about. 

Rather than filling all the data in just 2-3 slides, take it easy and work with the layout this template offers:

• Title Slide: Every single presentation should list a title slide, with quality graphics and the presentation title being clear enough. Additional information can include the presenter’s name, the company’s name, logo, etc.
• About Us Slide: In business environments, companies should always introduce themselves, highlighting key information like the industry they move in, significant milestones, etc. Remember, this is an introduction to the company as an entity, not a description of your team members.
• Best Services: Depending on your niche, take this as an opportunity to promote your core activities as a company.
• What We Do: This is complementary to “Best Services.” It is the section where you specify which areas your company covers and why your services stand out against competitors.
• Mission and Vision: Required for any pitch deck presentation.
• Meet the Team: This slide can either be an org chart or be presented through photos for the managers per department (the interaction points between stakeholders and management).
• Our Advantages: Ideal to complement slides 3 and 4, this expresses the competitive advantage of the company and marketing plan, and you should present your flagship product or service.
• Market Opportunity: What led your company to approach its niche, attending to customers’ pain points.
• Timeline: This slide serves to introduce significant milestones, projects, planned strategies, deadlines, etc.
• Market Size: When we have to answer the total addressable market (TAM), we can use a slide representing TAM, SAM, and SOM .
• Competitors: Two slides in this presentation deck talk about a company’s competitors and different approaches to representing that data with visual impact. 
• Data Chart: If you intend to discuss a KPI in particular, this chart slide can work to expand the talk over that point. 
• Product and Demo: This works either for e-commerce or physical products. Presenters can alter the slide to discuss services rather than products or just keep the “Best Services” slide.
• Pricing Slide: When discussing a business pitch, you must present your current pricing range to potential investors. In this case, the slide resembles the pricing tier format you can find on many websites.
• Thank You Slide: Knowing how to end a presentation with class is critical to securing a business deal. You can include a photo that resembles closing a business deal, a video that further expands your company’s history, products/services, and culture, or leave it with a minimalistic “thank you.”

With just 15 slides, you can create a powerful slide deck communicating your message to your target audience. Keeping a clean layout and following the 1 topic per slide rule ensures your presentation delivers a clean speech.

Now, we’ll move on to how to make a presentation deck from scratch. We recommend working with PowerPoint Templates , as design decisions are already taken for you (font pairing, color schemes, placeholder areas, balance between text and graphs).

Select a Slide Deck

By browsing professional PPT template creators’ websites like SlideModel, you can find a vast selection of products tailored to your needs. It is as easy as to browse for the topic you want via the search bar, locate a product you desire, and download it to your account. You can also explore the available products per category through menu elements.

Insert your Content

Every single presentation deck available at SlideModel.com is entirely customizable. We can add illustrations by going to Insert > Picture and selecting the origin from which you want to upload your image into the presentation.

Also, users can customize the template and replace the image in the placeholder area by right-clicking over it and selecting Change Picture .

Text content can be edited in the text placeholder areas by clicking over it. Charts and graphs may require some extra steps depending on how they were crafted. To replace the placeholder data, simply select the chart or graph element and click on the Filter option next to it. Seek the Select Data option at the end of the contextual menu.

Modify the data used as a sample in the chart with the information pertinent to your company or project. An MS Excel spreadsheet will open up to allow that procedure.

Other Customization Options for Slide Decks

Finally, we recommend you check the following articles to learn more about aspects to edit in slide decks:

• How to change fonts in Slide Decks .
• How to change the theme in Slide Decks .
• Which fonts will make your Slide Deck stand out .
• How to insert 3D models in Slide Decks .
• How to change slide layout in a Slide Deck .
• How to rotate a slide in PowerPoint .

What are the key elements of an effective slide deck?

A clear and cohesive theme, concise and impactful text, and high-quality graphics are all you need to create a powerful slide deck, as long as it follows a logical flow that guides the audience through the presentation.

Can I create a slide deck if I don’t have Microsoft PowerPoint?

Yes, our expertise in this field tells us there are no visible differences between working with PowerPoint and Google Slides or Apple Keynote to create a quality presentation, except for some curved text effects and complex animations.

What are some tips for choosing a theme or template for my slide deck?

• Select a theme or template that aligns with the presentation’s topic or audience.
• Consider the context and setting of the presentation.
• Opt for a clean and professional design that backs up your speech rather than add distracting elements.

How can I add and format text on my slides?

When working with presentation software, you can format text as you would work with any text editor. Remember to stick to concise and clear language, with no technical jargon. Huge “text walls” deter the audience from your talk, as there’s a natural impulse to read the content. Opt for legible fonts rather than complex script typefaces.

How can I ensure my slides are consistent regarding fonts, colors, and styles?

Using a consistent color scheme is the first step, which can be analogous (easier to work), complementary, or bolder options as long as you stick to recommended color pairings. Avoid harsh contrasts, as they make your slides less legible. Use a maximum of 3 different fonts in your slide, best if 2 only.

1. Innovative Business Presentation Template Slide Deck

Powerful graphics with contrasting tones that add a vibrant vibe to your presentation. This slide deck is ideal for startups, tech talks, or any presentation that wants to showcase a vanguard style in touch with the latest design trends.

Use This Template

2. PPT Slide Deck Template

A semi-formal slide deck that balances many visual aids and placeholder text areas while bearing a complementary color scheme. Ideal for team meetings, introducing your company to investors, or academic presentations.

3. Business Executive Presentation Deck for PowerPoint

Sleek, formal, and with plenty of tools to repurpose this slide deck for multiple presentation requirements. A fully editable PPT presentation deck that can accommodate an alternative theme to its distinctive cool blue executive tones.

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Design, Microsoft PowerPoint, Slides Filed under Design , PowerPoint Tutorials

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What Is a Slide Deck & How It's Done (Tips & Templates)

Learn what a slide deck is. Get tips and templates for making a professional slide deck presentation for business that goes beyond PowerPoint.

Dominika Krukowska

6 minute read

Short answer

What is a slide deck?

A slide deck is a sequence of slides, or pages, used as visual aids in a presentation or a speech. It’s used in business and education to communicate complex information. The slides in the deck are set in a logical order that completes a coherent narrative.

The term “slide deck” comes from the original mechanical slide projector which used a kind of magazine shaped as a carousel to move through a series of transparent slides which were projected on a screen. The term now refers to individual pages within digital presentations.

Dull presentations achieve only boredom - is your slide deck dull?

Capturing and maintaining an audience's attention is no easy feat. If your presentations are dull, you risk boring your audience, failing to convey your message effectively, or even becoming a go-to example for a bad presentation.

But what if there’s a way to minimize the risk?

In this post, we'll cover what a slide deck is and what it isn't.

You’ll learn how to avoid the common mistakes that demolish engagement and how to create an effective slide deck to transform your presentations from boring to buzzworthy.

Let’s dive in!

Slide deck vs. slideshow

A slide deck is a series of slides crafted for a presentation, whereas a slideshow is typically a looping set of images or videos, often with little to no interactive elements. While slide decks are used for communicating information, slideshows are generally used for entertainment.

Slide deck vs. presentation

The difference between a slide deck and a presentation is that a slide deck is a collection of slides that contains information, while a presentation is the act of delivering the information to an audience. The slide deck is the visual aid used during a presentation to support the speaker's message.

Static vs. interactive slide deck

A static slide deck presentation includes only static content such as text and images, whereas an interactive slide deck presentation includes clickable elements, animations, or embedded media that provide a dynamic, immersive experience users can interact with.

Interactive slide decks have been shown to be much more engaging than static ones since they facilitate the reader’s active participation.

This allows readers to hide or expose content on demand, control the pace at which content is served, and see information tailored to them.

You can see the difference below:

What is a slide deck presentation in PowerPoint?

A slide deck presentation in PowerPoint is a series of static slides arranged in a fixed order.

Created in Microsoft's PowerPoint software, it allows for structured information delivery, but lacks interactive elements, limiting audience engagement during the presentation.

Here's an example of a slide deck presentation in PowerPoint:

What is a slide deck presentation in Google Slides?

In Google Slides, a slide deck presentation is a sequence of slides designed within this cloud-based platform.

It offers the convenience of online collaboration and accessibility, but like traditional tools, it primarily features static slides, limiting the potential for interactive audience engagement.

Here's an example of a slide deck presentation in Google Slides:

What is a slide deck presentation in Storydoc?

A slide deck presentation in Storydoc is more than just a series of slides. It's an interactive journey crafted within the platform using narrated design.

Unlike traditional tools, it allows for dynamic elements and user interaction, significantly enhancing audience engagement and the overall presentation experience.

Here's an example of a slide deck presentation in Storydoc:

What makes a good slide deck?

A good slide deck grabs attention through a clear narrative, compelling visuals, and concise text. It's not just about information, but also interaction.

Engaging slide decks often incorporate dynamic elements, encourage audience participation, and are crafted with an understanding of the audience's needs and interests.

What are slide decks used for in business?

Slide decks are the backbone of effective business communication. They help audiences understand complex concepts, make informed decisions, and take action.

How slide decks are used:

• To present complex data in an understandable way
• To share company updates or strategies during meetings
• To pitch ideas or products to clients or investors
• To support webinars or training sessions
• To tell compelling stories to engage and persuade audiences

What should a slide deck presentation include?

A slide deck presentation should include a clear narrative structure with an introduction, body, and conclusion. It should feature compelling visuals that support your message, concise and easy-to-read text, and interactive elements to engage your audience.

Remember to include a call-to-action, guiding your audience towards the desired outcome.

Check out our dedicated guides for specific types of slide decks:

What to Include in a Pitch Deck (Slides 99% of Investors Want)

7 elements of a great sales deck structure

What should a one-pager include?

What does a marketing deck include?

What are the main types of business slide decks?

The main types of business slide decks are:

• Pitch deck presentations
• Sales deck presentations
• Product marketing presentations
• White papers
• Case studies
• Report presentations
• Education and academic presentations
• Business proposal presentations
• Sports sponsorship proposals
• Business plan presentations

Jump ahead to each type:

1. Pitch deck presentations

These slide decks are the golden ticket for startups seeking investment. They succinctly present the business idea, market potential, and growth strategy to convince investors to come on board.

Here’s an example of a pitch deck presentation:

If you want to find out more about pitch deck presentations, read these articles:

What Is a Pitch Deck? A Beginner's Guide to Greatness

Create a Winning Pitch Deck Investors Love (Examples & Tips)

2. Sales deck presentations

These slide decks showcase the unique benefits of your product or service and demonstrate why it's the ideal solution for the customer's needs.

Their main goal is to convince prospects to become paying customers of your solution.

Here’s an example of a sales deck presentation:

To learn more, check out our article on how to make a sales pitch deck that turns ‘Maybe’ to ‘Yes!’ .

3. Product marketing presentations

These slide decks introduce new products or features, highlighting their benefits and how they solve the target audience's problems, sparking interest and driving sales.

Here’s an example of a product marketing presentation:

4. White papers

These slide decks are comprehensive reports that provide an in-depth analysis of a problem and its solution, showcasing your business expertise.

Here’s an example of a white paper:

5. Case studies

These slide decks share customer success stories. They show how your product or service has helped a customer, building credibility with potential clients.

Here’s an example of a case study:

For more information, check out our blog posts:

What Is a Case Study & Customer Success Story?

5 Steps for Writing a Case Study for Business (+Templates)

12 Steps to Create a Business Case Study That Converts

Case Study Format Types: Match Format with Business Goals

These decks present complex data in an engaging way. They transform raw data into understandable insights, making information accessible to all.

Here’s an example of a report presentation:

7. One-pagers

These slide decks provide a quick overview of your product or service on the first touchpoint with a potential customer. They highlight key features and benefits in a concise, easy-to-digest format.

Here’s an example of a one-pager presentation:

To learn more about this slide deck type, read our guides:

What Is a One-Pager: Types, Benefits & Main Use Cases

Make One-Pagers That Grab Attention, Engage & Convert

Create a Sales One-Pager (Examples, Writing Tips, Templates)

Create a Business Plan One-Pager (+ Proven Templates)

How to Create a Startup One-Pager That Wows Investors

How to Create a Product One-Pager (That Gets People Excited)

8. Education and academic presentations

These slide decks simplify complex concepts and present research findings in an engaging way, fostering understanding and learning.

Here’s an example of an academic presentation:

Research proposal

This school research presentation template is perfect for students who need to present their findings from a research project. The template includes space for a title, introduction, main body, conclusion, and bibliography.

For more guidance, we have an article on how to write a research proposal that includes tips and templates.

9. Business proposal presentations

These slide decks summarize your offering and demonstrate its value, helping to secure business agreements and close deals.

Here’s an example of a business proposal presentation:

If you want to create your own, make sure to check out these posts:

How to Write a Business Proposal (Examples & Templates)

Make a Winning Business Proposal Presentation in 12 Steps

10. Sports sponsorship proposals

These slide decks highlight the benefits sponsors will receive in return for their investment, helping to secure funding for sports teams.

Here’s an example of a sports sponsorship proposal presentation:

Football sponsorship proposal

This bright and energetic template reflects the dynamic nature of sports. With a combination of text-based and interactive slides, you'll easily convey the history of your organization, as well as the team's main drivers and objectives, to make sponsors instantly realize the value for their money.

11. Business plan presentations

These slide decks serve as roadmaps for businesses. They detail the company's strategy and objectives, aligning team members and attracting potential investors.

Here’s an example of a business plan presentation:

General Business Plan

This template has everything you need to create a visual summary of your business idea. Thanks to a range of interactive slides, you'll be able to convey your vision in a way that impresses investors and gets you the necessary buy-in.

Best slide deck templates to get you started

Embarking on your slide deck journey doesn't have to start from scratch. With tried and tested templates, you're already a step ahead. They’re designed to be responsive, ensuring your content shines on every device.

If you're ready to take your presentations to the next level, explore our interactive slide deck templates below, guided by AI and reader feedback. They’ll help you create professional slide decks that captivate, engage, and inspire.

Hi, I'm Dominika, Content Specialist at Storydoc. As a creative professional with experience in fashion, I'm here to show you how to amplify your brand message through the power of storytelling and eye-catching visuals.

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What is a Slide Deck and how to create one

All you need to know about Slide Decks

Slide decks have become an integral part of business presentations, whether you're pitching to investors, presenting ideas to your team, or delivering a keynote speech. In this article, we will dive into the slide deck meaning, exploring its significance and providing you with a comprehensive guide on how to create captivating and effective slide decks that leave a lasting impression.

Presentation deck meaning

A presentation deck is simply a slide presentation that is typically used in business meetings to cover a specific topic of collective interest. The deck of slides that we know today as a digital file derives its name from the analog era where slides were physically printed and placed inside an apparatus that shone light through them. Presentation decks have a wide variety of uses, from corporate meetings to marketing and sales proposals. In this article, we’ll cover the most common use cases.

The purpose of slide deck presentations

Slidedecks serve as visual aids to support your presentation. They help to organize information, enhance understanding, and engage your audience. A well-crafted deck presentation can make complex concepts more digestible, reinforce key points, and create a memorable experience for your listeners. In business settings, deck presentations are mostly used for two different purposes:

• Create a business proposal or strategy: Most corporate companies, or even startups, are in constant need to present business proposals and strategies. These proposals can either be intended for internal purposes or for external clients and stakeholders. Presentation decks are the most efficient and comprehensive way to analyze, discuss, and decide the next steps in these meetings. The advantage is that by using visual resources and content queues, presenters can unpack a lot of information without disengaging audiences.
• Report progress or business performance: The second use case is to report back on these initiatives, or to cover overall business performance. Slide decks make it easier to go over charts and other visualizations that explain how a certain project is doing, or give an update on how several revenue lines have performed recently.

Understanding your audience

Before you begin creating your slide deck, it's crucial to understand your audience. Consider their level of expertise, their expectations, and their primary interests. Tailoring your content and visuals to resonate with your specific audience will make your slide deck more impactful and relevant. People often overlook this consideration and it can play a detrimental role in communicating effectively. Corporate organizations for example tend to use a lot of acronyms and insider jargon that outsiders would fail to understand. Web3 startups are also an example of companies whose very value prop depends on a lot of technical explanations that would be difficult to grasp by non-technical audiences. Leveling the playing field is key in order to have a rich and fluid conversation around these businesses.

Planning and structuring your slide deck

Start by outlining the key messages and objectives of your presentation. Divide your content into logical sections or chapters, ensuring a smooth flow from one slide to another. Begin with a compelling opening slide that grabs attention and clearly states the purpose of your presentation. Arrange your slides in a coherent sequence, using headings, subheadings, and bullet points to guide your audience through the information. The best slide decks are the ones that flow from general topics to specific ones, so spend a good amount of time in thinking about what you want to say, and how to organize these ideas in a logical way.

Keep it simple and visual

The golden rule of slide deck creation is to keep it simple. Avoid overcrowding your slides with excessive text or complex visuals. Instead, focus on using concise statements, keywords, and phrases that complement your spoken presentation. Incorporate relevant and visually appealing images to reinforce your message and engage your audience's visual senses. Think of the great slide deck presentations, like Steve Job’s product reveals or TED Global Talks. They have one thing in common and that is in heavily relying on visual resources to reinforce their statements, instead of trusting the slides to replicate every single word they said.

Design and visual elements

The design and visual elements of your slide deck play a significant role in capturing attention and enhancing comprehension. Choose a clean and professional graphic template that aligns with your brand and complements your content. Use consistent fonts, colors, and layouts throughout your slide deck to maintain visual coherence. Incorporate charts, graphs, or infographics to present data or highlight important statistics in a visually appealing manner. If you feel overwhelmed by designing your slides, or struggle to think visually, a good place to start is by browsing presentation templates that can give you a good starting point. You can also seek out help from professional presentation design agencies that specialize in crafting good quality slides.

Engaging content and storytelling

Great slidedecks not only inform but also tell a compelling story. Craft your content in a way that takes your audience on a journey, capturing their interest and creating an emotional connection. Use storytelling techniques, anecdotes, or case studies to make your presentation more relatable and memorable.

Rehearsal and delivery

Creating a compelling slide deck is only half the battle. Storytelling is pretty much a discipline of its own, and some people take years to fully master feeling comfortable with presenting in public. The best way to address this fear is two-fold: first, being completely comfortable with the topic you’re presenting about. This will allow you to be more relaxed, and combat imposter syndrome or shakiness in your voice. The second strategy is to practice outloud, as much as possible. This rehearsing process is not exclusively to memorize your speech (although this is quite useful), but it will also make you less reliant on your slides and a more confident speaker.

Practice is key! Rehearse your presentation repeatedly will help you maintain a confident and engaging presence. Remember, your slide deck should support your spoken words, not overshadow them.

Best Slide Deck Templates

• The Startup Slide Deck Template
• Airbnb Slide Deck Template
• Uber Slide Deck Template
• Investor Deck Template
• Sequoia Capital Slide Deck Template
• Investment Proposal Template

Check more slide deck examples here

Slide decks are powerful tools that can elevate your presentations and captivate your audience. By understanding your audience, planning and structuring your content, keeping it simple and visual, and incorporating engaging storytelling techniques, you can create slidedecks that leave a lasting impact. Remember to rehearse your presentation and deliver it with confidence. With these tips in mind, you're well on your way to mastering the art of slide deck creation.

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A pitch deck is the standard document used by startups to present their case to investors; it’s a brief deck of about 10 to 20 slides. See examples here.

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10 tips on how to make slides that communicate your idea, from TED’s in-house expert

When your slides rock, your whole presentation pops to life. At TED2014, David Epstein created a clean, informative slide deck to support his talk on the changing bodies of athletes . Photo: James Duncan Davidson/TED

Aaron Weyenberg is the master of slide decks. Our UX Lead creates Keynote presentations that are both slick and charming—the kind that pull you in and keep you captivated, but in an understated way that helps you focus on what’s actually being said. He does this for his own presentations and for lots of other folks in the office. Yes, his coworkers ask him to design their slides, because he’s just that good.

We asked Aaron to bottle his Keynote mojo so that others could benefit from it. Here, 10 tips for making an effective slide deck, split into two parts: the big, overarching goals, and the little tips and tricks that make your presentation sing.

Aaron used this image of a New Zealand disaster to kick off a slide deck from TED’s tech team — all about how they prepares for worst-case scenarios. He asked for permission to use the image, and credited the photographer, Blair Harkness. View the whole slidedeck from this presentation.

The big picture…

• Think about your slides last . Building your slides should be the tail end of developing your presentation. Think about your main message, structure its supporting points, practice it and time it—and then start thinking about your slides. The presentation needs to stand on its own; the slides are just something you layer over it to enhance the listener experience. Too often, I see slide decks that feel more like presenter notes, but I think it’s far more effective when the slides are for the audience to give them a visual experience that adds to the words. .
• Create a consistent look and feel . In a good slide deck, each slide feels like part of the same story. That means using the same or related typography, colors and imagery across all your slides. Using pre-built master slides can be a good way to do that, but it can feel restrictive and lead to me-too decks. I like to create a few slides to hold sample graphic elements and type, then copy what I need from those slides as I go. .
• Think about topic transitions . It can be easy to go too far in the direction of consistency, though. You don’t want each slide to look exactly the same. I like to create one style for the slides that are the meat of what I’m saying, and then another style for the transitions between topics. For example, if my general slides have a dark background with light text, I’ll try transition slides that have a light background with dark text. That way they feel like part of the same family, but the presentation has texture—and the audience gets a visual cue that we’re moving onto a new topic. .
• With text, less is almost always more . One thing to avoid—slides with a lot of text, especially if it’s a repeat of what you’re saying out loud. It’s like if you give a paper handout in a meeting—everyone’s head goes down and they read, rather than staying heads-up and listening. If there are a lot of words on your slide, you’re asking your audience to split their attention between what they’re reading and what they’re hearing. That’s really hard for a brain to do, and it compromises the effectiveness of both your slide text and your spoken words. If you can’t avoid having text-y slides, try to progressively reveal text (like unveiling bullet points one by one) as you need it. .
• Use photos that enhance meaning . I love using simple, punchy photos in presentations, because they help what you’re saying resonate in your audience’s mind without pulling their attention from your spoken words. Look for photos that (1) speak strongly to the concept you’re talking about and (2) aren’t compositionally complex. Your photo could be a metaphor or something more literal, but it should be clear why the audience is looking at it, and why it’s paired with what you’re saying. For example, I recently used the image above—a photo of a container ship about to tip over (it eventually sank)—to lead off a co-worker’s deck about failure preparation. And below is another example of a photo I used in a deck to talk about the launch of the new TED.com . The point I was making was that a launch isn’t the end of a project—it’s the beginning of something new. We’ll learn, adapt, change and grow.

Here, a lovely image from a slidedeck Aaron created about the redesign of TED.com . View the whole deck from this presentation .

And now some tactical tips…

• Go easy on the effects and transitions . Keynote and Powerpoint come with a lot of effects and transitions. In my opinion, most of these don’t do much to enhance the audience experience. At worst, they subtly suggest that the content of your slides is so uninteresting that a page flip or droplet transition will snap the audience out of their lethargy. If you must use them, use the most subtle ones, and keep it consistent. .

• Try panning large images . Often, I want to show screen shot of an entire web page in my presentations. There’s a great Chrome extension to capture these—but these images are oftentimes much longer than the canvas size of the presentation. Rather than scaling the image to an illegible size, or cropping it, you can pan it vertically as you talk about it. In Keynote, this is done with a Move effect, which you can apply from an object’s action panel. .
• For video, don’t use autoplay . It’s super easy to insert video in Keynote and Powerpoint—you just drag a Quicktime file onto the slide. And when you advance the deck to the slide with the video that autoplays, sometimes it can take a moment for the machine to actually start playing it. So often I’ve seen presenters click again in an attempt to start the video during this delay, causing the deck to go to the next slide. Instead, set the video to click to play. That way you have more predictable control over the video start time, and even select a poster frame to show before starting. .

Lastly, I’d love to leave you with a couple book recommendations. The first is Resonate , by Nancy Duarte. It’s not so much about slides, but about public speaking in general – which is the foundation for any presentation, regardless of how great your slides are. In it, she breaks down the anatomy of what makes a great presentation, how to establish a central message and structure your talk, and more. (One of her case studies comes from Benjamin Zander’s charming TED Talk about classical music, a talk that captivated the audience from start to finish.) Think of this as prerequisite reading for my second recommendation, also by Duarte: Slide:ology . This is more focused on presentation visuals and slides.

Happy slide-making.

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What is a Slide Deck? Everything You Need to Know!

By: Author Shrot Katewa

In my personal experience alone, I’ve seen people use very many different words including the word “Slide Deck” for a presentation. I always wondered what is the meaning of Slide Deck, and how is it different from other words commonly used to describe a presentation. So, I did a little research, and here’s what I found out!

A Slide Deck is a term assigned to a group of slides that together form a complete presentation. A slide deck is usually created using a presentation design application. A slide deck is often used as an aid for storytelling or presenting information about a topic or an organization.

But, how is a slide deck different from a slide show or a PowerPoint? In this article, we will understand the nuances of the various presentation terminologies used. Plus, I will also help you understand why is a slide deck really called a slide deck!

So, let’s get started.

A Quick Note Before We Begin – if you want to make jaw-dropping presentations, I would recommend using one of these Presentation Designs . The best part is – it is only $16.5 a month, but you get to download and use as many presentation designs as you like! I personally use it from time-to-time, and it makes my task of making beautiful presentations really quick and easy!

What is a Slide Deck?

When it comes to describing a presentation, there are several words that are used. One word that is often used is a “Slide Deck”.

As mentioned above, a slide deck really is a collection of slides put together to form a presentation. A slide deck is used in many organizations to give an overview about their organization, to share strategies or plans, or showcase performance updates, or even just sharing a piece of interesting information about a topic. There are several use cases for a slide deck!

You may wonder, “Is slide deck not just the same as a presentation?”. If so, then why not just call it a presentation instead of a slide deck? Why use the term slide deck at all?

Pro Tip: All slide decks are presentations, but not all presentations can be classified as a slide deck!

A presentation is usually a much broader term. For instance, when you are displaying a physical product and verbally sharing nuggets of information about that product, it is still referred to as a presentation. More specifically, it is called a product presentation.

The key difference between a slide deck and presentation is that a presentation is an act of delivering information such as a speech or a talk. Whereas, a slide deck is the visual aid used while giving a presentation!

Although the two terms are often used interchangeably, a slide deck and a presentation are actually two different terms!

Why is a Slide Deck called a Slide Deck? A Brief History!

The term slide deck evolved from an old technology that was used for projecting the slides on the wall. A physical 35 mm slide was inserted into a carousel slide projector . All the slides that were used during a presentation were collectively known as a slide deck (as in a deck of cards).

The term “slide deck” stuck around and became synonymous with a presentation even after the technology evolved . Thus, even today, many people refer to a presentation as a slide deck.

If you are wondering how this projector really worked, then you would be amazed to know that each model came with slots for 40 or 80 slides that could be inserted at a time.

Each slide would be placed upside down and backward in terms of the chronological order so that the image projected is in the correct orientation and order. The slide themselves were usually photographs and not much could be done on the slide.

Difference Between Slide Deck and Slide Show?

Another term that people often use interchangeably is a slide deck and a slide show.

A slide deck is the group of slides used to create a presentation. However, when these slides are displayed or shown to an audience while giving a presentation, the process is known as a slide show.

In other words, a slide deck is usually a presentation file whereas a slide show is a process of showing the contents of that file to an audience.

Slide Deck vs PowerPoint: What’s the Difference?

I’ve also seen people get confused between a slide deck and PowerPoint. Again, these are also another set of terms that are used interchangeably. But, there is a difference.

As mentioned before, a slide deck is usually a group of slides collectively put together to give a presentation. The term slide deck has existed even years before PowerPoint was introduced. As we learned above, a slide deck was initially used to describe the batch of physical slides used in a projector.

PowerPoint, on the other hand, is a presentation design software. Unlike a slide or a presentation, PowerPoint is actually a program that is used for designing a slide or creating a presentation.

As the technology evolved and a computer started to have more computing power, complex applications were designed to enable the ease of leveraging technology.

Contrary to the common opinion, PowerPoint was not created by Microsoft. It was first released by Forethought Inc in 1987 initially only for Mac OS. However, Microsoft acquired PowerPoint 3 months after its initial release and rebranded it as Microsoft PowerPoint.

What is the Difference Between Slide Deck and a Pitch Deck?

Another term that you may hear often, especially in the more recent times, is a pitch deck. It is important to note that using the two interchangeably might not be the correct thing to do. Here’s why –

A slide deck is basically all the final slides put together to create a presentation. However, a pitch deck is a type of a slide deck created with a very specific purpose of pitching an idea or a business model to an investor with the intention of raising funds for implementing the idea.

In this era of start-ups and entrepreneurs, a pitch deck is quite common. In fact, every time an organization is looking to raise funds for the project or business, a pitch deck is required.

Simply put, a pitch deck can also be called a slide deck, but not all slide decks can be referred to as a pitch deck!

What is a PowerPoint Slide Deck?

There are multiple ways of creating a slide deck. As we learned earlier, traditionally a slide deck was created using actual physical slides.

As the technology evolved, sophisticated computer applications were used to create a slide deck. One such application is Microsoft PowerPoint.

A PowerPoint slide deck is a term used to describe a slide deck or a presentation that is created using Microsoft PowerPoint as the presentation design application. A PowerPoint slide deck usually consists of multiple slides put together to create a presentation.

That said, a PowerPoint slide deck is more commonly referred to as a “slide deck” or just “Presentation” as PowerPoint is not the only presentation design application available to a user.

What is a Slide Deck in Google Slides?

Although PowerPoint has been one of the most well-known and commonly used presentation design programs, another application that has been gaining in popularity amongst the users is Google Slides!

The idea of a slide deck in Google Slides is pretty much the same. When you put together all the final slides that are going to be used in a presentation using Google Slides, it is known as a slide deck in Google Slides.

If you are not sure what exactly is Google Slides and would like to understand this a bit more in detail, I’ve written a detailed post on this topic. Make sure you check it out! Click on the below link.

What is Google Slides? The ULTIMATE Guide!

How to Make a Slide Deck in PowerPoint?

If you are using PowerPoint, one of the things that you may often be asked to do at work is to make a slide deck in PowerPoint. But, how exactly do you do that? Let me try to answer this question.

Here’s how to make a slide deck in PowerPoint –

• Open a PowerPoint Presentation
• Create a structure for your content
• Create a Title Slide
• Design the Other Remaining Slides
• Use Images relevant to the content
• Add Animations and Transitions
• Create a Thank You Slide
• Save Your Slide Deck
• Share the File with your team

Honestly, this topic deserves a separate article in itself. Perhaps even a single article may not be complete enough to cover this topic.

How to Make a Good Slide Deck?

Let’s face it – most of us don’t want to come across as incompetent. Thus, making a good slide deck is almost always important. But, how exactly does one do that?

There are actually several things that you can do to make an attractive presentation. I actually wrote a detailed article on how to easily create a good slide deck. The tips that I share in that article are also relevant for beginners. So, make sure you check out that article as well! The link is mentioned below.

7 EASY tips that ALWAYS make your PPT presentation attractive (even for beginners)

More Helpful Resources –

• Should You Add Table of Contents in your Presentation?
• How to Give a Presentation When You Are Not Prepared?
• A Quick Guide to Using Animations and Transitions in PowerPoint

Image Credit for the Featured Image

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• Creative Cloud for teams

Creating a slide deck for any occasion.

Make a slide deck that shows off your ideas, holds your audience’s attention, and even entertains them.

Remember that you’re telling a story.

Whether you’re presenting a pitch deck, leading a webinar, or simply sharing your ideas with your team, keep in mind that humans naturally think in terms of narrative. In fact, neuroscientists have discovered that listening to a story can activate all parts of the brain and even lead to changes in behavior. As a presenter, you can take advantage of this human quirk. By sharing a story with a beginning, middle, and end, a presenter draws in audience members and stirs their emotions. Showing sales numbers to potential investors will be more effective when it’s part of a presentation that weaves a compelling narrative. Creating a slideshow highlighting important data can help you relay the high points of a dense report to your employees. No matter the information, before you start thinking about specific presentation slides, ask yourself what story you want to tell. Who is your audience and how do you want them to respond?

A professional presentation in three acts.

Present your story as a classic three-act play with your audience as the hero. What do they want? What obstacles must they overcome to achieve their goal? Begin with the first obstacle, and build a little suspense before you offer the solution. You might tell a smaller story about facing that obstacle, giving it a place in the larger narrative. Then move onto the next obstacle and do the same.

In the second act, present your solution to the problem. What is it and how does it work? How will it successfully help your heroes reach their goal?

In the final act, your narrative ends with the audience getting what it needs: resolution. Their problem is solved with the help of your solution or product, and maybe something extra — like a problem they haven’t even anticipated — is also solved. Once you’ve filled in the details of this basic structure, you’re ready to start making slides.

Put design principles to work.

Slide design is crucial for every deck, no matter the presentation software you’re using. Working elements of visual storytelling into your entire presentation will ensure that even audience members watching on laptops stay engaged. Just follow these simple rules:

Stick to a visual theme.

A consistent look — with consistent typography and a basic color scheme — will help your audience stay focused on the content of your slides.

Keep it simple.

Avoid cluttering your deck with endless charts, tables, or bullet points too small for everyone to read. Allow for plenty of white space on each slide, so the crucial information stands out.

Find the right tools for every job.

Pie charts are great for demonstrating percentages. Vertical bar charts show changes over time better than horizontal bar charts, which are best for comparing quantities. To visually represent trends, a line chart is your best bet. You might also try creating an infographic to help your audience visualize your data or to tell a smaller story within your larger narrative.

Incorporate video or audio.

People sit up straighter and pay closer attention when you break up your static slides with video and audio. Use motion and sound to help draw your audience’s focus to your key takeaways.

Make your design elements sparkle with Adobe InDesign.

To create an impactful and entertaining presentation without starting from scratch, choose one of the many presentation templates in Adobe Stock and open it in InDesign. Then import your brand logo and other marketing assets for a consistent look.

Once you’ve got the visual theme and color palette you want, consider including surprise elements like high-quality Adobe Stock photographs, illustrations, or even movie clips to help your work really stand out. Plus, in InDesign, a simple two-step command allows you to export and preview, so you can immediately see every single slide through your audience’s eyes.

To start a presentation from scratch, follow these steps:

1. Find the right page size.

Click on File in the InDesign main menu, then New Document. A dialog box will open. If you’re not sure what dimensions to use, set the page width to 12 inches and the page height to 9 inches. Click Create and a blank page will appear.

2. Choose your background.

Remember to keep it simple, but look for a striking background image that works with text overlay. The deck’s title can also become part of the background.

3. Create paragraph styles.

Keeping it simple applies to your text too. Select no more than three text styles to keep the title font, body font, and footnote font consistent throughout the presentation. Creating paragraph styles also allows you to change font and size with a click of a button, saving you time in the long run.

4. Set up master pages.

Master pages streamline your slide design workflow and ensure your presentation looks professional and well designed. You can create one slide with three columns, one with a big background image as a transitional slide, one that highlights a customer quote — the list goes on. Add image and text frames to the master pages so you can drop your content in later without having to overthink the layout.

5. Add images and text.

Once you’ve created the master pages, it’s easy to drag and drop Photoshop (.PSD) files, PDFs, Illustrator (.AI) files, JPEGs, PNGs, or GIFs into the image frames. To add text, just copy and paste text files or select the Type Tool from the toolbar and type directly into the text frame.

6. Add page numbers.

Page numbers will help you and your audience keep track of any sequentially paged documents. To insert page numbers, select Type from the main menu, then Insert Special Character, then Markers, and finally Current Page Number. InDesign will automatically number the slides.

7. Add finishing touches.

From movies and sound clips to hyperlinks, cross references, and page transitions, you’ve got plenty of interactive options to make your story as compelling as possible.

8. Export your slide deck.

When you’ve finished creating your deck, the final step is to export it in a format that can be projected or distributed. Exporting as Adobe PDF (Interactive) lets you play or click through interactive content directly in the presentation.

To export, just click File in the main menu, then Export. From the Format dropdown menu, select Adobe PDF (Interactive), and then click Save.

More topics you might be interested in…

Design Marketing Materials that boost sales and brand recognition.

Ways to boost your customer engagement.

5 ways your small business can stand out from the competition.

https://main--cc--adobecom.hlx.page/cc-shared/fragments/cc-teams/resources/how-to/grow-your-business-three-up

Discover apps that can help you design engaging presentations.

https://main--cc--adobecom.hlx.page/cc-shared/fragments/cc-teams/resources/how-to/teams-plans

Slide Deck: Creating a Great One for Business Success

In today’s world of digital presentations, mastering the art of a slide deck is essential. A slide deck is more than a series of slides; it’s a powerful tool for conveying your message. This article is your go-to guide to help you create an engaging and effective slide deck. We will explore what a slide deck is and clarify if it’s the same as a PowerPoint presentation.

Creating a slide deck that captivates your audience involves more than putting together a few slides. Slide deck design influences how your audience receives your message. In the following sections, we will provide step-by-step instructions on how to make your slide deck stand out. Let’s dive into the exciting world of slide decks! Imagine piecing together a stunning presentation that sticks in people’s minds. We’ll start by picking out a template that’s right for your message. Then, I’ll show you how to sprinkle in eye-catching visuals and compelling text. This journey is for anyone eager to boost their presentation game. With our easy-to-follow guidelines and handy templates, you’re all set to create a slide deck that’s nothing short of perfect.

What is a Slide Deck?

Technically speaking, a slide deck is a collection of digital slides organized sequentially for a pitch or presentation. It combines text, images, charts, and multimedia to convey information effectively. Essential in business and education, slide decks rely on strategic presentation design for clarity and impact, often using tools like PowerPoint or Keynote.

More simply, it is a bunch of digital slides, put together in a specific order, to tell a story or share information. Think of it as a more exciting version of a photo album. Instead of pictures of your vacation, you have slides with cool texts and images that explain your ideas. Just like how you carefully choose photos for an album, presentation design is key in a slide deck. It’s all about making your slides look great and easy to understand. This way, your presentation deck can grab people’s attention and make it more memorable. So, a slide deck is your secret weapon to make any presentation stand out!

Is a Slide Deck and a PowerPoint Presentation the same?

A slide deck and a PowerPoint presentation are similar, but they’re not the same thing. Think of a slide deck as a collection of slides that you use as a visual aid in a presentation. It’s like a toolbox filled with all the images, texts, and graphics you need to explain your idea. Now, PowerPoint is a software application that helps you create these slide decks. It’s one of many presentation software tools out there. So, while all PowerPoint presentations are slide decks, not all are made in PowerPoint. You can use other software, like Prezi, or Keynote too. A slide deck is what you see on the screen during a presentation, and PowerPoint is a tool you can use to make it.

How To Create a Slide Deck in 10 Steps

Designing a slide deck can be a fun and rewarding process. Especially when you know how to create an effective slide deck. Are you getting ready for an educational or corporate presentation? These 10 steps will be your guide. They’ll show you how to create slide decks or presentations the right way. Your slides will not only look great, but they’ll also get your message across effectively.

Step 1 – Define Your Goal

Start by asking yourself what you want to achieve with your slide deck. Is it to inform, persuade, or entertain your audience? Knowing your goal sets the direction for your presentation.

Step 2 – Research Your Topic

Gather all the necessary information about your topic. This could include facts, figures, and any relevant data that supports your main points.

Step 3 – Write a Script

Before jumping into designing slides, script out what you want to say. This helps in organizing your thoughts and ensuring a logical flow of information.

Step 4 – Choose a Design Template

Pick a design template that suits your topic and audience. Remember, the design should complement your content, not overshadow it.

Step 5 – Use Visuals Wisely

Use visual aids like images, charts, and graphs. They can make your slide deck impactful by breaking up text and illustrating your points more clearly.

Step 6 – Simplify Your Text

Keep your text concise and to the point. Use bullet points or short sentences to make your slides easy to read and understand.

Step 7 – Incorporate Storytelling

People love stories, so weave one into your presentation if you can. It makes your content more engaging and memorable.

Step 8 – Practice Your Delivery

Rehearse presenting your slide deck. This helps you become more familiar with the content and improves your confidence and timing.

Step 9 – Get Feedback

Before the final presentation, show your slide deck to someone for feedback. Constructive criticism can help you refine and improve your slides.

Step 10 – Make Final Adjustments

Based on the feedback, make the necessary tweaks. This could be adjusting the design, simplifying text, or refining your script.

In conclusion, creating a powerful presentation with a slide deck takes several steps. First, you need careful planning. Then, add some creativity. Lastly, don’t forget to practice a bit. By following these steps, you can make your slide deck more than a collection of slides. You can create a compelling story that captures your audience’s attention and communicates your message. Remember, a great slide deck is more than visuals and text. It’s about making a connection with your audience and leaving a lasting impact.

Tips for creating your own Slide Deck Template

Creating an engaging and impactful presentation is an art form that blends storytelling, visual design, and audience interaction. This guide will delve into various attractive slide deck templates, frameworks, and principles that can elevate your slide deck, ensuring it resonates with your audience and leaves a lasting impression.

1. Structure & Storytelling

The hero’s journey.

Imagine your topic as a captivating story. Start with a relatable situation (e.g., industry challenges), introduce a complication (e.g., existing inefficiencies), and then present your solution as the hero’s triumph (e.g., transformative benefits). This structure engages the audience emotionally and keeps them invested in the outcome.

The Problem-Solution Framework

This straightforward approach lays out the problem clearly (e.g., declining customer satisfaction). Then, it dives into your solution (e.g., enhanced features, improved service), highlighting its specific advantages and addressing potential concerns. This builds trust and provides a logical explanation for your proposition.

The SCQA Framework

Spark intrigue with a thought-provoking situation (e.g., surprising industry statistics). Introduce a complication (e.g., unexpected consequences). Then, pose a compelling (e.g., “How can we overcome this challenge?”). Finally, deliver a clear and impactful answer (e.g., your innovative solution). This creates suspense and emphasizes the significance of your message.

Metaphor Framework

When faced with complex technical topics and audiences with varying levels of expertise, the Metaphor Framework comes to the rescue! It harnesses the power of familiar, easily understood concepts to explain seemingly cryptic ideas. Think of it as translating “technical mumbo jumbo” into a visual language everyone can grasp. So, instead of dry charts and jargon, imagine using a blooming flower to depict impressive growth or a sturdy bridge to illustrate strong connections.

2. Visual Design & Clarity

Kiss (keep it simple, silly).

Prioritize uncluttered visuals with minimal text and ample white space. Use large, legible fonts and high-contrast colors for accessibility. Remember, less is often more when it comes to conveying your message effectively.

Less is More

Avoid information overload. Focus on key points and only use the most relevant images, graphs, and data. Each element should contribute directly to your message and enhance understanding, not distract from it.

Data Visualisation Best Practices

Choose appropriate chart types to represent your data accurately and avoid misinterpretations. Use clear labels, legends, and color schemes that adhere to established best practices. Remember, data visualisation should tell a story, not create confusion.

3. Engagement & Interaction

The socratic method.

Encourage active participation by posing thought-provoking questions throughout your presentation. This stimulates critical thinking, keeps the audience engaged, and allows you to tailor your explanations based on their understanding.

Live Poll & Feedback Tools

Integrate interactive elements like live polls, Q&A sessions, or open feedback tools to capture real-time audience insights. This fosters two-way communication, addresses their concerns, and personalizes the experience.

Storytelling with Data

Transform dry data into compelling narratives. Use visuals not just to present information but also to create emotional connections with the audience. Tell stories with your data, highlighting unexpected trends , showcasing human impact, and leaving a lasting impression.

Principles to remember when creating your own Slide Deck Template

The pyramid principle.

The Pyramid Principle is all about organizing information in a clear and structured way. You start with the most important points at the top and then add supporting details below. This creates a clear hierarchy that makes your message easier to understand.

The Golden Ratio

The Golden Ratio is a special formula used in art and design to make things look really good. By balancing visual elements using this ratio, your presentation will have a natural, pleasing appearance.

Color Psychology

Colors can make people feel different emotions. By choosing the right colors in your slides, you can make your audience feel excited, calm, or curious. It’s like painting with emotions!

• to tailor the framework to suit your audience and topic. The right approach can vary depending on who you’re speaking to and what you’re talking about.
• to combine different frameworks. Sometimes, using a mix can create a more dynamic and engaging presentation.
• that practice makes perfect. Rehearse your presentation, refine your delivery, and adjust your content based on feedback for maximum impact.

In conclusion, mastering the art of presentation involves a thoughtful blend of storytelling, design, and audience engagement. By selecting the appropriate frameworks and refining your delivery, you can create stunning slide decks that not only inform but also inspire and captivate your audience.

Create a Winning Slide Deck with Fully Decked Up

In wrapping up, this guide on how to create a slide deck from scratch equips you with the tools and knowledge to craft a memorable and effective presentation. Whether it’s a pitch deck for your startup or a corporate deck, the key lies in structure, storytelling, and design. With a clear understanding of different frameworks and a focus on simplicity and clarity, you can transform your ideas into a visually compelling narrative. Remember, a great slide deck does more than just share information; it connects with your audience and leaves a lasting impact.

Looking to take your presentation to the next level? Fully Decked Up, one of India’s leading presentation design agencies, is here to help. With more than two decades of experience, our designers have mastered the art of creating impactful slide decks and presentations for industry giants across the country. We understand the nuances of effective communication and are dedicated to bringing your vision to life. Check out our Portfolio and Services pages. To learn more about how we can help you create a presentation that stands out, call us at 1800 121 5955 (India), email us at [email protected] , or reach out via WhatsApp . Let’s make your next presentation unforgettable!

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Introducing Slide Deck 101: A Comprehensive Guide For You

Presentation Design Services Presentations Professional Presentation Design Slide Layouts

Are you tired of spending hours trying to create an effective slide deck for your next presentation? Look no further! Our skilled designers can help. We make presentations with awesome graphics and content that grabs attention. Perfect for business pitches, conferences, or sales talks . Let us help you make a presentation that stands out. Say goodbye to the stress of creating a slide deck and let our skilled designers take the reins. With our help, you can confidently step into your next presentation knowing that you have a top-notch one to back you up. Our comprehensive guide will teach you everything you need to know. Learn what a slide deck is, the different types, design principles, get tips on slide design, and more!

What is a Slide Deck?

A slide deck is a collection of slides for presentations, often used in business or education. In business, it's often also called a pitch deck and the presenter uses it to present new ideas or plans to investors. It includes attractive slides with important info, data, and images to grab the audience's attention. Simply put, it's a visual tool that supports the spoken part of a presentation. There are different types and we’ll learn about them in the next section.

Types of Slide Decks

Slide decks are powerful tools for delivering information in a visually engaging way. Whether it's for business, education, or marketing, the right slide design can make a big difference in how people receive your message. Here's a look at 10 different types, each tailored for specific presentations and needs.

1. Pitch Decks

Perfect for business presentations, the presenter may use a pitch deck to introduce new ideas or plans to investors. They are concise, focused, and designed to persuade.

2. Sales Decks

These are key in sales presentations . They highlight product benefits, pricing, and why it's a great choice for the customer.

3. Educational Decks

People use these in teaching and workshops. They have clear, easy-to-understand information to help people learn.

4. Corporate Decks

Organisations use these decks to share company news, overviews, or yearly reports .

5. Conference Decks

These help experts talk about their knowledge at events. They're interesting and focus on specific topics.

6. Marketing Decks

Used in marketing, these decks show off plans, campaigns, and what they achieved, all in an attractive package.

7. Project Proposal Decks

When you want to start any new projects, use project proposal decks. They explain your goals, plans, and what you hope to achieve.

8. Financial Report Decks

Used for presenting financial data like earnings or forecasts. They make complex data understandable.

9. Product Demo Decks

These are great for introducing new products. They spotlight what the product does and why it's good.

10. Storytelling Decks

Less about data, these are used to tell a story, often more narratively and engagingly.

The right design can improve your presentations, making them more impactful and memorable. Whether you're pitching an idea or teaching a class, there's a type that's just right for your needs.

Slide Deck and PowerPoint Presentation - What's the Difference?

Though often used the same way, there's a small difference between a slide deck and a PowerPoint presentation. A slide deck is a collection of slides made with any presentation software, and it helps in giving a talk.

But, a PowerPoint presentation means the designer used Microsoft PowerPoint to create it. The big difference is the software used. You can create slide decks with different presentation design software such as Google Slides, Keynote, or Prezi. This gives you more choices in design and features. Using PowerPoint means sticking to what that program can do. Knowing this can help you make your presentation better, fitting what you need and like.

Slide Deck Vs. Slideshow - Are There Any Similarities?

When it comes to giving presentations, slide decks, and slideshows are both key in showing information visually to people. They sound similar, but they're a bit different.

A slide deck is a bunch of slides you plan to show one after another. You can make them using programs like Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides. A slideshow, though, is when you show these slides to people, like in a meeting or a class. You can enhance a slideshow by using animations, transitions, and timings in each slide.

How to Create Slide Decks?

Creating an impressive slide deck is key to nailing your presentations. Whether it's for a corporate deck or a classroom lecture, a well-designed one can make a big difference. Here's how to do it:

1. Understand Your Audience

Know who you are presenting to. This helps tailor your slide deck design to their interests and needs, making your presentation more engaging.

2. Define Your Message

Be clear about what you want to say. A focused message helps keep your presentation on track and your audience tuned in.

3. Choose a Simple Design

A cluttered slide deck can distract your audience. Use simple designs and colors that make your slides look professional and easy to read.

4. Use Visuals Wisely

Images, charts, and graphs can make your slide design more interesting. But use them wisely – too many visuals can be overwhelming.

5. Keep Text Minimal

Avoid cramming too much text into your slides. Use bullet points to make key points stand out.

6. Tell a Story

People remember stories. Use your slide deck to tell a story that connects with your audience, especially in corporate deck presentations.

7. Practice Your Delivery

Knowing your content well helps you deliver a smoother presentation. Practice beforehand to get comfortable with your presentation.

8. Get Feedback

Before the final presentation, show your slide deck to someone else. Feedback can help you improve and refine your design and content.

It's important to note that an effective slide deck is more than just slides – it's a tool that, when designed and used correctly, can greatly enhance your presentations. By following these steps, you can create one that not only looks good but also communicates your message clearly and effectively.

Important Slide Deck Design Principles You Need To Know

Creating a strong and impactful slide deck is essential for effective presentations. Understanding key design principles is crucial for making yours stand out. Here's a rundown of important design principles you should know:

a. Consistency in Design

A consistent design keeps your slide deck looking professional. Use the same fonts, colors, and layouts throughout. This not only makes your presentation impactful but also helps in maintaining a cohesive look.

b. Visual Hierarchy

Your slide layouts should guide the audience's attention to the most important parts. Arrange elements in a way that leads the eye from the most to the least important information. This hierarchy makes your presentation easy to follow.

c. Color and Typography

The right combination of colors and fonts can make your slide deck lively and engaging. A colorful presentation attracts attention, but remember to keep the contrast high for readability. Choose fonts that are easy to read and fit your presentation's tone.

d. Using Images and Graphics

Well-chosen images and graphics can enhance your message. They help you create a more dynamic and visually appealing presentation. Make sure the visuals are relevant and support your content.

e. Incorporating Data and Charts

When presenting data, use charts and graphs for clear data visualisation. They help in making complex information easier to understand. Ensure that these visual elements are simple and not overloaded with data.

In short, knowing these design principles is important for making good presentations. They help your slides look nice and get your point across clearly. A well-designed one can impact how people see and remember what you present.

Design Tips for Better Slide Decks

Designing a great slide deck can be a game-changer for your presentations. Here are 10 simple tips to help your slides stand out and leave a lasting impression:

• Keep It Simple: Avoid clutter. Use clean layouts and minimal text for clarity.
• Consistent Theme: Stick to one theme throughout for a cohesive look.
• Contrasting Colors: Use colors that stand out against each other for easy reading.
• Readable Fonts: Choose large, clear fonts so everyone can read your slides easily.
• Quality Images: Use high-resolution images that relate to your content.
• Limit Bullet Points: Too many bullet points can overwhelm your audience. Stick to key points.
• Use Charts Wisely: Charts are great for explaining data, but keep them simple.
• Engage with Stories: Use storytelling elements to make your content more engaging.
• Slide Deck Templates: Consider using slide deck templates for a professional start when creating your slide deck.
• Practice Makes Perfect: Rehearse prior to presenting to ensure smooth delivery.

Remember, the goal here is to support your message, not overshadow it. With these tips, you can create one that’s both effective and memorable.

Get Premium Slide Deck Design with Deck Sherpa

After reading through "Slide Deck 101," you now know how to create a great one. But if it's still tough or you want to do even better, Deck Sherpa can help. We're a top agency for creating unique presentation design  for all kinds of businesses, both locally and globally. Our skilled designers are ready to turn your ideas into reality. We make sure your presentations look amazing and share your message well. Need a standout slide deck for a big business meeting, a school talk, or a sales pitch? Deck Sherpa is here to help. Get in touch with the team, and let's make your next presentation one that leaves a lasting impression on your audience. Your audience is waiting for something great – let's create it together! You can email - [email protected] , call - 1800 121 5955 (India), or even WhatsApp , to speak to someone from the team.

Slide Deck FAQs

Q. Why do people call it a 'slide deck' ? A. People call it a slide deck because it's like a deck of cards; each slide is a different "card" with information, presented in order. Q. What does a good slide deck look like? A. A good slide deck is clear, visually appealing, and concise. It has easy-to-read text, relevant images, and a consistent design. Q. How many slides should a slide deck have? A. The number of slides in a slide deck depends on the topic and presentation length, but generally, it should be as concise as possible. A standard presentation contains around 10-20 slides.

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APPROACHABLE DESIGN

How to create slide decks that don't put people to sleep

Great slide deck presentations are just great stories. Learn how to avoid over-designing your deck and stuffing it with useless information.

By Nate Kadlac

Slide deck presentations are broken.

I once sat through a presentation by a CEO who had prepared two 50+ page slide decks for an important all-hands meeting.

Just the act of building two decks ensured the message would be messy. And using 50+ pages to tell a company story left everyone in the room exhausted (and confused).

Why are building slide decks so tricky? Most people think each slide needs to describe every thought in their head, even if they know better. And I bet you have read all of the articles about preparing slide decks and know this. Yet, you’re still wondering how to communicate the inspiring quote, the graph with all of this detailed data, and the story of how big your company will be if you just owned 1% of the trillion-dollar TAM.

The good news is, it doesn’t have to be this way. You can build beautiful, simple, and effective slide decks that will engage your audience and help you make your point.

And in this article, I will show you how to avoid retrofitting your content into giant presentation templates like this. (This gives me nightmares)

First, avoid opening up your slide deck app

If building a slide deck was the length of a 10k race, opening up the slide deck software would put you at the 8k mark without all of the preparation. You just skipped all of the most important work, which all happens outside of Powerpoint. (I use Figma!)

It can feel compelling to open up Powerpoint, Google Slides, Keynote, or any other fun piece of software. (I lied, Powerpoint is not fun.) But this forces you to think about the design of your slides and everything else that doesn't matter at this point.

So here's what to do first: Open up your favorite writing app and start thinking about the story you want to tell, not how your slides should look. (We'll get to that in a moment.)

Now, we'll look at ways to think about building your slide decks.

Seven tips for structuring your content for an effective slide deck presentation

Even if you're running a company and your employees are being paid to listen to your presentation, they won't. It's you against the audience, and they don't owe you anything.

Now that many presentations are given virtually, it's more important than ever to make sure every slide needs to be there. It's too easy for someone to shut their camera off and tune out.

Tip #1: Build your slide deck like a book

For a moment, think about holding a book in your hands. Just holding it in your hands, it reveals several characteristics that tell us a bit about it.

The cover creates intrigue and hints at the story before opening it.

The size of the book tells us how much time it might take us to read it.

The inner flap humanizes it by telling us about the author and showing a portrait of them

The table of contents gives us an idea of the themes discussed in the book, or the adventure it's about to take us on.

Each chapter is a milestone, asking us to pause before we continue on

Each chapter has subheaders breaking up the ideas and stories within the book.

The back of the book gives us a summary of the content and more info about who worked on it, and testimonials of the content inside.

Books are great examples of setting expectations before we even flip to the first page. Our presentations—no matter how big or small—should help our audience similarly.

We want people to know where they are, and how much time they have left. These unanswered thoughts are running through the minds of your audience, and creating a basic structure like this puts them at ease.

Your slide deck presentation should include:

Cover slide with a clear title (or hook!) of the story

Table of contents

Chapter pages highlighting where you are in the deck

Slides with a single takeaway (and supporting evidence)

An end slide with how to contact you and follow-up

Tip #2: Every presentation deck should tell a story

Most people immediately start putting too much information into slides. It's easy to make the mistake that your slide decks need a lot of information.

Instead, the story arc of a slide deck presentation should mimic a movie. You'll have a beginning, middle, and end. Each deck should communicate one large idea, and within that, you're sharing supporting ideas, each on its own slide.

How you organize your slides is up to you to create the narrative you want. If you're designing startup pitch deck templates for your business, your story will take up a large percentage of the presentation.

“Storytelling is an art combined with science. The artistic part is to understand that a story’s goal is to persuade an investor who most likely starts with the fear of losing their money, and to transition that through your story to a fear of missing out.”— Keith Teare, Accelerated Digital Ventures’ US Managing Partner

Even when trying to persuade investors, if you present a deck with too much information, it will complicate the overall story you're telling.

As Keith lays out for executing a great pitch deck to investors, the key is to answer the following questions:

What is your end game?

Why is it worth the effort?

How will you make it happen?

Tip #3: Present one takeaway per slide

It's better to have five slides, each with one main point, versus one slide with five points. One way to focus on this strategy is to title the slide with the ultimate takeaway.

This helps the overall flow of your slide deck and enables you to think only about what the audience needs to hear.

A trick is to view the slide deck presentation in outline view and read through the titles. It should have an overall flow that your audience can understand, as well as be incredibly informative.

If there's one piece of text your audience will read, it's going to be the title. Make sure it summarizes the insight.

Tip #4: Communicate your ideas using the Pyramid Principle

Your audience is busy. If you're presenting to the C-suite, you might not get through all your slides. The Pyramid Principle was created by Barbara Minto at McKinsey as a method for logically structuring your arguments.

Start with the answer first

Group and summarize your supporting arguments

Order your supporting ideas in a logical way

Starting with the answer first and then sharing your supporting ideas seems counterintuitive for many people. But it skips the preamble and delivers the message clearly while giving you time to explore the supporting ideas if there's time.

Tip #5: Avoid too many bullets (stick with 2-3 per slide)

Forgetting what to say is a common fear of giving a presentation. One bad presentation will leave you stuffing your slides with every thought you have, to avoid forgetting everything.

This is how slides with too many bullets create a false sense of safety.

When you're presenting every single thought you have, the audience has to choose one. Should they listen to you or read the words on your slide? When you're reading aloud, it will create a conflict between your voice and their internal dialogue.

This division makes for a poorly formatted presentation, making the audience choose one or the other.

Tip #6: Aim for 10 slides or less 

We should all have reasonable goals when creating a slide deck. Giving ourselves a goal to have less than 10 slides might feel impossible, but most slide deck templates tempt you to create more than necessary. 

10 slides is a good number to aim for because it forces us to focus on the most important takeaways. Remember, our slide deck creation does not need every thought we have, so start by creating your deck template with just 10 headlines or less, and see if you can still communicate what you need. 

Most of the time we spend on our presentation template is due to the number of slides we have. Also, the more slides, the longer it takes to deliver. 

Having just 10 slides means we can usually keep the presentation under 20 minutes. 

Tip #7: End with a free call-to-action reward

Aside from the main theme you want to articulate in your presentation, what action do you want them to take?

One of the biggest missed opportunities is to leave the audience without something to do at the end. Maybe it's a URL to fill out a form, or simply a way to contact you. Whatever you do, make sure you use this as the reward for listening to you speak

While asking for their information is the default use case, you can take this further and create something for your audience. If you're giving a talk about being more productive in the workplace, create a list of free ideas for them to do just that, and give them a way to download it after the presentation.

Showing up for your audience shows that you care, and it's a way to connect with those afterward.

How to design your presentation slide deck without relying on free templates

I once redesigned a website for a client, and they had never thought about creating one from scratch before. "I just thought you picked a template and filled it in."

This is what most people do with their own slide decks, which leads to an inconsistent experience and stuffing their slide decks with too much info.

My general advice is not to rely on free slide deck templates. Most are over designed, gaudy, and dated. You're also overthinking the layout , and how to retrofit your content into the templates.

This is difficult, and a waste of time.

Instead, start with one idea per slide, then we'll make simple, timeless design decisions to prevent you from redesigning your templates from scratch in the future.

Creating a simple presentation deck template using 2-3 colors, 1-2 fonts, and a basic content structure is all you need to design a slide deck that stands out.

Don't over-design your slide deck presentation

It doesn't matter what kind of slide deck presentation you're giving, you don't need to over-design your slides. This applies to all types of deck formats. A pitch deck template, a strategy deck, an informational deck... these all should be using timeless design principles.

Stick to the basics. Where do you start?

Start with a blank template

While this might seem like I’m adding more work, in the end, this reduces the amount of design decisions most slide deck apps force on you. 

Add your titles to each slide

In most apps like Powerpoint or Keynote, you can change the view to “Outline” which will let you see the title of the slide. This is another way to avoid thinking about design for as long as possible, and start putting your content into the slides. 

Even if your presentation doesn’t look great yet, don’t worry! We’ll get there, and we won’t even worry about gradients, drop shadows, video, text effects or animations to build a good looking slide deck. 

Colors: Use three colors + light and dark versions for the body text

Three colors are all you need when designing a presentation deck. If you have a brand deck, please use those colors and don't deviate from them. Building reputable brands means using the same consistent choices over and over.

Applying brand decisions should be boring.

Here's the simple formula:

One primary color (pick this first)

One neutral color (pick this second)

One accent color (pick this third)

Optional: A custom black for text and a custom white for reversed white text

I always use this combination of

Primary color

Your primary color is your main brand color. You can use this for your dark backgrounds or any other primary instances. 

This will be the color you use in 80% of cases. When in doubt, use this color for your design decisions. 

I usually bookend my slide decks with this color, using it for the cover slide and end slide. I might also use it for the Table of Contents, and then use a lighter background for the interior pages, just like a book. 

This adds a bit of personality and the sterile look and feel most slide decks have. 

Neutral color

Neutral colors are great for lowering the amount of contrast in a slide. I like to use my neutral color instead of a pure white background, which often gives the presentation a sophisticated feel.

Feel free to experiment, but neutral colors are almost white. In the example above, I'm using the hex value #F9F5F3.

Accent color

An accent color is useful when you need to call out or highlight an important word or section. If you're trying to highlight one of the most important takeaways, try using this as the slide’s background.

The purpose is not to overuse this color, but to use it strategically when necessary.

Avoid using true black and white for body text

Most templates will use pure black and white for body text. But these colors are high-contrast, and demand unnecessary attention. Pure black and white don't exist in the world because of the way light reflects off surfaces. Even shadows aren’t pure black because they absorb the color of the surface. (Unless maybe you're in a pitch-black float tank?)

Instead of just going with the defaults, I’ll pull in the ends of each just slightly, so to soften the intensity overall.

Imagine a spectrum of white and black on opposite ends. I choose colors that sit at around 95% of each end. It's hard to notice without comparing them, but that's the point. It creates a more soothing experience, even if no one can tell you're not using pure black and white.

Fonts: Choose a maximum of one or two fonts

First, if your company or brand already uses specific fonts, use those and forget this section! Consistency matters, and you'll only make it more difficult when everyone is choosing a font that matches their attitude that particular day.

You only need one typeface, as long as it has multiple weights. A typeface with multiple weights means it has bold, regular, semi-bold, black , and so on. Those give you a much more flexible family to work with than typefaces with just one.

If you need to use two fonts, you'll want to pick fonts with contrast. This creates visual intrigue, and it’s easy to accomplish using a serif or sans-serif combination. Like, Helvetica and Georgia. 

Avoid picking two fonts that look too similar, like Helvetica and Arial. These two in particular look similar, but they’re slightly different. This makes the overall design look confusing or off .

Use images that have a clear meaning

If you're in a pinch for a photo, try to resist the temptation to find a generic or cheesy stock photo. They make your slide deck look unprofessional and dated. It's better to use no photo than one that adds skepticism to your presentation deck.

If you do use images, make sure they support your story. They should also touch the edges of your slide deck, without any white padding. This will help give your slide deck a more polished feel and help the placed images avoid looking like clip art. 

Illustrations can be useful

I won’t lie and say illustrations can’t be powerful and creative. I’ve used them in my decks. But they aren’t necessary to communicate a good story. The problem with stock illustrations is that they usually look off-brand, or confuse the message more than anything. I try to avoid them at all costs unless you have the budget to hire an illustrator to build them specific to your business. ‍

Charts and graphs

Charts or graphs can be extremely useful to tailor a story with data. Most of the time you’ll end up using screenshots or displaying other existing work, but if possible, try to create these yourself using your brand colors and aesthetic. 

I use Figma to create all of my charts, but there are plenty of great creative tools like Canva, Keynote, and Figma. (If you want to learn more about using Figma, you can learn more here .)

Use simple grid layouts in your slide deck

Laying out content can always cause a bit of a struggle. It’s best to keep things simple for your content. 

Use a simple grid structure

Imagine your slide deck divided between 1-4 equally spaced columns. This gives you a basic grid when planning how to lay out content in your slide deck. 

Don't add a logo or copyright information on every page

Many slide deck templates will have a spot for brand logos, page numbers, and other elements to make your slide deck feel more professional.

If you need to add copyrights, page numbers, or disclaimers, reserve that for a printed copy of the slide deck. Or go ahead and make a duplicate deck for sharing purposes, because that won't help you during a live presentation, and gives the audience more to look at during your presentation.

Presentation takeaways

During that long presentation with two prepared slide decks and over 100+ slides, we all left that conference room confused and unsure of what we should do next.

So in your next slide deck presentation, remember to do these things:

Start by writing a list of insights to talk about, in a story format. (These will be your slide deck titles)

Add any supporting details under each point.

Use the Pyramid Principle to make better arguments

Aim for 10 slides of less, and one insight per slide

Add your cover slide and a closing slide with a CTA

Open your slide deck software and pick 1-2 fonts (Don’t use a deck template)

Choose 3 colors (Primary, neutral, and accent)

Layout your slides using 1-4 columns

Use accent or primary colors for your most important slides

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6 steps to creating an effective presentation or slide deck

Creating powerful presentations and supporting documents for clients is the heart and soul of everything we do at Presentation Studio. As part of this, we see the good, the bad and the downright ugly !

One of the most common mistakes people make is to confuse a presentation and a report. Quite often, they’ll try and present a report.

Difference between a presentation and report

A presentation  includes carefully constructed and designed slides that support what a speaker is presenting. So, like a billboard on a highway, you should be able to digest the content on each slide within a few seconds without causing a pileup of information.

Visuals, keywords, infographics and diagrams are used to explain or create an emotional connection with your audience, so you can help them remember your key points.

A  report  or slide deck , on the other hand, can be used as a stand-alone document that you handout before or after you present.

Slide decks are great when you have more information than you can put on screen. Like a magazine, they can be read on their own and don’t need the speaker to talk through them – in fact, that would make understanding them worse as you can’t read lots of information and listen at the same time.

You can do both in most presentation software, but a presentation and a slide deck have different purposes. Ideally, you would present and then follow up your presentation with a report/slide deck of the supporting information.

To help show the difference between the two, let’s look at how you might take a large chunk of text from a word document (like above) and turn it into a handout and then an effective presentation.

HANDOUT TOOL [REPORT] 

Step 1: Convert text into multiple columns

The human eye finds narrow columns easier to read than full-width pages. That is why newspapers and magazines split the information up with visuals and columns, and graphic designers use grid layouts when setting copy pages.

So your first step would be to convert blocks of text into multiple columns that automatically adjust. This makes it easier for your audience to scan read.

Step 2: Contrast fonts and font size to emphasize points

To help the ‘readability’ of your information, make the titles bold, use line spacing to tighten up blocks of text that are related to each other. You might also look at highlight quotes in different colors, fonts or font sizes, and add in bullet points where you can.

This makes the information far more natural to scan and digest. That’s a perfect handout for before or after you present.

PRESENTATION 

Step 3: Cut the clutter 

Once this is done, you can start thinking about thinking your text into a presentation. It’s more important than ever to cut out all the clutter from your presentation. What gets left out of your presentation is more important than what goes in.

Some of us are apparently better at this than others. Many of us believe that sharing everything and blinding our audience with data is the best way to create a connection – that couldn’t be further from the truth! This will only put the people you are trying to engage off and make them lose interest faster.

You need to identify the main points that your audience can act on and display these in a way that they can immediately understand. Strip out all the other background content.

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Step 4: Spread out your slides 

Step 5: Represent data as diagrams 

Step 6: Create visuals, icons and images 

Images create an emotional connection to what you are saying, which helps your audience remember it. Think of the meaning or the feeling you are trying to evoke and represent that. Avoid hand-shaking figures, smiling suited people, little vector people standing on arrows and graphs, and predictable and boring stock images that have been used a hundred times before. Cheesy stock photos have the opposite effect than the one you want – they turn your audience off. This is your chance to get creative! Using these visual references helps create clarity and a much stronger emotional connection with your audience. It’s these kinds of emotions and visuals that they will remember long after your presentation has ended.

Quick summary

Before your next presentation, the following will help you create a powerful and pleasing slide deck:

• Covert text-heavy information into multiple columns
• Contrast font and font sizes to emphasize points, highlight headings with color
• Reduce the clutter
• Spread out your slides
• Represent data as diagrams
• Create visuals, icons and images
• Use a PowerPoint theme to make your presentations visually uniform and consistent

About the author

As the founder and CEO of Presentation Studio, Emma leads the team to create presentations that are influential, memorable and successful. Emma and her team can help you stand out so that your audience understands your message. She can help your presentations have impact and influence. This means the right messages are more memorable for your audience. Emma achieves this through content writing, visual communication, and strong presentation delivery.

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Slide deck 101: how to design winning presentations

What is a slide deck.

A slide deck is a collection of slides that you can use to present your ideas. Some decks are a brief set of simple slides (ie. for keynotes & demo day presentations), whereas others are much longer and include far more detail (ie. M&A and fund pitch decks).

What is the purpose of a slide deck?

The purpose of the slide deck is to communicate your thoughts and ideas to your audience. An effective slide deck should be visually appealing so that your audience will be engaged and interested in what you have to say. Don’t just fill up your slides with bullets: include visual aids, such as images, quotes, graphs and charts, to support your points.

What format should I use to create a slide deck?

You have a wide variety of options when it comes to choosing the software you want to use in order to create your slide deck:

• Microsoft PowerPoint – Arguably the best software to create your slide deck.
• Keynote – An Apple software for creating presentations on a Mac computer.
• Prezi – An online presentation tool that breaks the traditional “slide”-based presentation model.
• Google Slides – Another online service that allows you to create presentations and share with your colleagues, friends or family members.
• OpenOffice Impress – A free alternative to Powerpoint that allows you to make and edit presentations and slideshows.
• LibreOffice Impress – Another alternative that is similar to OpenOffice Impress and offers many of the same features.
• Canva – Online design tool that offers a variety of templates, graphics and fonts to help you create a great-looking slide deck.
• Figma – An online design tool that typically used for creating prototypes and mockups, which is also great for designing presentations.

How to create an effective slide deck

When creating a slide deck in PowerPoint you should use the following guidelines to ensure that it looks professional and polished:

1. Consistency

Use the same font & colors throughout your presentation (matching your branding) so your deck has a consistent look and feel. This will make your deck look more professional and ensure that the audience can follow your presentation more easily.

2. Visuals-First

Too many slide decks succumb to the pitfall of including too much text: use pictures & graphics to tell your story visually. That said, your visual content should support your talking points, not detract from them. Text-heavy slides are certain to make your audiences eyes glaze over.

3. Tell a story (avoid jumping between topics)

As you are presenting, be sure to emphasize the main points of your presentation by telling a story: start with a hook and weave together all your points and transitions through your story. This helps keep your presentation focused so that your audience stays focused & follows along more easily.

4. 1-sentence messages > bullets & headings

Bullet lists are good for summarizing key points in a long and complicated message, but are not the most effective way to communicate your main ideas. Each slide in your presentation should focus upon a single topic, which you should be able to summarize in one sentence. Using large, headings is the key to delivering a clear message and making your presentation easily-digestible for your audience.

5. Focus on the opportunity, not features

Rather than spending too much time talking about every little detail of your product and service, focus on why it’s beneficial for your audience and how it solves their problems. It’s easy for founders to get lost in the rabbit holes of minute product features, which is one surefire recipe to lose investor’s focus during your pitch. Focus on high-level benefits & user stories to paint a far more compelling picture — investors don’t need in-depth feature overviews or operational minutiae.

6. A picture is worth a thousand words.

“A picture is worth a thousand words” is a well-known saying for a reason: visual cues are far more effective than text alone when it comes to communicating complex concepts to an audience. The same philosophy holds true for investor pitch decks (and any presentation you’ll create for your business): slides that leverage visuals are far more memorable than those with nothing but a bunch of text. Use charts, graphs, and other eye-catching visuals to supplement your points, and avoid walls of bulleted text in your deck.

7. Avoid live demos

Pitch deck best practices recommend using pictures and flowcharts instead of live demos: too much can go wrong and switching lanes mid-presentation disrupts the flow of your presentation. The same can be said for long (>2-min) videos, although embedding short videos & GIFs can be an excellent strategy to add life to your presentation.

Best slide deck templates

Every pitch requires a unique approach tailored to its audience. Our team of experts has created tailor-made pitch decks for different industries , as well as funding stages:

Accelerator Pitch Deck Template   — The Accelerator Pitch Deck template was crafted for early-stage founders seeking to win funding &/or investment from pitch contests, accelerators, incubators, and angels or VC firms. Winning a pitch contest or being accepted to a prominent accelerator program requires a unique strategic approach to an investor pitch presentation.

Series A Pitch Deck Template  — A pitch deck template for startups and founders raising funding: Smart, actionable slides that work. This is a pitch deck template built specifically for startups, entrepreneurs and founders raising their first seed or Series A round of institutional capital.

Mergers & Acquisitions Pitch Deck Template  —  Perfect Pitch Deck™ is a template crafted for later-stage businesses entering more sophisticated discussions such as mergers & acquisitions (M&A), late-stage investment (Series C+), or other partnerships & financing opportunities. Our team of experts created this presentation to empower founders to present with confidence to investment banks, private equity (PE) groups, and/or hedge funds (and vice versa).

Alternatively, feel free to browse our growing  selection of pitch decks tailored for specific industries and businesses.

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5G Wireless Technology Pitch Deck

5g wireless technology pitch deck presentation, free google slides theme and powerpoint template.

Download the "5G Wireless Technology Pitch Deck" presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides. Whether you're an entrepreneur looking for funding or a sales professional trying to close a deal, a great pitch deck can be the difference-maker that sets you apart from the competition. Let your talent shine out thanks to a customizable template for PowerPoint or Google Slides. Take advantage of our design and watch your ideas take shape and eventually hit the market.

Features of this template

• 100% editable and easy to modify
• Different slides to impress your audience
• Contains easy-to-edit graphics such as graphs, maps, tables, timelines and mockups
• Includes 500+ icons and Flaticon’s extension for customizing your slides
• Designed to be used in Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint
• Includes information about fonts, colors, and credits of the resources used

How can I use the template?

Am I free to use the templates?

How to attribute?

Attribution required If you are a free user, you must attribute Slidesgo by keeping the slide where the credits appear. How to attribute?

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