5 Pro PowerPoint Tips to Create the Perfect Presentation
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2025 5:01 am
I remember the presentation well, but for the wrong reasons.
The keynote speaker at a well-known project management conference had years of experience, a clear message, a great stage presence, and a truly engaging presentation.
Every other slide contained pictures, stock photos, or dancing gifs .
I don't remember the gist of his presentation, but I sure as hell remember the lesson on what not to do in a PowerPoint presentation.
Presentations are a powerful communication tool in the project management software toolbox .
But if you're using clunky, outdated design techniques and need ideas on how to take your presentations to the next level, I've compiled these tips below - from Microsoft's website and the Office 365 the benefits of using our teacher database YouTube channel - on how to create engaging, professional presentations in PowerPoint 2016 in Office 365.
This article focuses on PowerPoint tips for creating effective presentations. However, you can apply these concepts to presentations made in PowerPoint alternatives to create your own professional presentations.
1. Embed eye-catching YouTube videos.
Did you know that over one billion hours of video are watched on YouTube every day ? Cisco predicts that by 2021, more than 80% of all internet traffic will be video content.
So, no matter what topic you're talking about, there's probably a quality video on YouTube that backs up your point.
Why make your audience sit through dense text or boring graphics when you can easily embed a video instead? Your audience is already accustomed to consuming video content.
I remember the host playing a video of John Cleese's motivational speech on " The Importance of Failure ."
The video illustrated the presenter's point perfectly, and in the end, the presentation stayed with me for all the right reasons.
Practical guide:
Copy the embed code from your YouTube video.
From the Insert menu on a PowerPoint slide, click Video > Online Video.
The Insert Video screen in Microsoft PowerPoint
Insert YouTube Video into Microsoft PowerPoint
Paste the embed code or even find a YouTube video from PowerPoint.
Move and resize the video on the slide, then preview it to make sure it's what you want.
2. Zoom between slides at the speed of light.
The old way to navigate a presentation was to click through it in order, one slide at a time.
Zoom changes that.
Zooming allows you to move around your presentation to different slides instead of having to painstakingly scroll through them one slide at a time.
For example, you want to quickly jump back to your first slide, then return to your place in the presentation. Use Zoom. Or you have a funny animated GIF of Weeping Jordan (used sparingly, of course) in the middle of your presentation that you hope will kill the audience, and you want to call them back. Use Zoom. Or if you want to show all your slides at once from a bird's eye view, like a table of contents. Use Quick Zoom.
Zoom for PowerPoint
Practical guide:
From the Insert menu, select Zoom.
Summary zoom shows an overview of all your slides, slide zoom lets you jump to a single slide anywhere in your presentation, and section zoom lets you display a group of selected slides.
Once you've done that, you can work with the scaling tools (under the 'Format' menu) and adjust the transitions and background.
The keynote speaker at a well-known project management conference had years of experience, a clear message, a great stage presence, and a truly engaging presentation.
Every other slide contained pictures, stock photos, or dancing gifs .
I don't remember the gist of his presentation, but I sure as hell remember the lesson on what not to do in a PowerPoint presentation.
Presentations are a powerful communication tool in the project management software toolbox .
But if you're using clunky, outdated design techniques and need ideas on how to take your presentations to the next level, I've compiled these tips below - from Microsoft's website and the Office 365 the benefits of using our teacher database YouTube channel - on how to create engaging, professional presentations in PowerPoint 2016 in Office 365.
This article focuses on PowerPoint tips for creating effective presentations. However, you can apply these concepts to presentations made in PowerPoint alternatives to create your own professional presentations.
1. Embed eye-catching YouTube videos.
Did you know that over one billion hours of video are watched on YouTube every day ? Cisco predicts that by 2021, more than 80% of all internet traffic will be video content.
So, no matter what topic you're talking about, there's probably a quality video on YouTube that backs up your point.
Why make your audience sit through dense text or boring graphics when you can easily embed a video instead? Your audience is already accustomed to consuming video content.
I remember the host playing a video of John Cleese's motivational speech on " The Importance of Failure ."
The video illustrated the presenter's point perfectly, and in the end, the presentation stayed with me for all the right reasons.
Practical guide:
Copy the embed code from your YouTube video.
From the Insert menu on a PowerPoint slide, click Video > Online Video.
The Insert Video screen in Microsoft PowerPoint
Insert YouTube Video into Microsoft PowerPoint
Paste the embed code or even find a YouTube video from PowerPoint.
Move and resize the video on the slide, then preview it to make sure it's what you want.
2. Zoom between slides at the speed of light.
The old way to navigate a presentation was to click through it in order, one slide at a time.
Zoom changes that.
Zooming allows you to move around your presentation to different slides instead of having to painstakingly scroll through them one slide at a time.
For example, you want to quickly jump back to your first slide, then return to your place in the presentation. Use Zoom. Or you have a funny animated GIF of Weeping Jordan (used sparingly, of course) in the middle of your presentation that you hope will kill the audience, and you want to call them back. Use Zoom. Or if you want to show all your slides at once from a bird's eye view, like a table of contents. Use Quick Zoom.
Zoom for PowerPoint
Practical guide:
From the Insert menu, select Zoom.
Summary zoom shows an overview of all your slides, slide zoom lets you jump to a single slide anywhere in your presentation, and section zoom lets you display a group of selected slides.
Once you've done that, you can work with the scaling tools (under the 'Format' menu) and adjust the transitions and background.