5 minute presentation ideas without powerpoint

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How to Make a 5 Minute Presentation | 30 Killer Ideas in 2024

Leah Nguyen • 20 May, 2024 • 11 min read

5 minute presentation - intriguing to the audience (no one likes to sit through a one-hour-feels-like-a-decade kind of talk), but a big nuisance to the presenters to decide what to put in. If not handled properly, everything will slip away from one's mind in the blink of an eye.

The clock is ticking, but you can keep your panic attack at bay with our step-by-step guide with free topics and examples. Get the full lowdown on how to make a 5 minute presentation for a team meeting, college class, sales pitch, or wherever else you need it!

Table of Contents

• Present better with AhaSlides
• 5-Minute Presentation Topic List

How to Make a 5-Minute Presentation

• 5 Common Mistakes

5-Minute Presentation Examples

Present Better with AhaSlides

• Types of presentation
• 10 20 30 rule in presentations
• Top 10 office games
• 95 fun questions to ask students
• 21+ icebreaker games

5 Minute Presentation Ideas

First thing first, you should come up with a 5 minute presentation idea that's intriguing. Think about what makes the general audience, even you jump out of their seat and eagerly hear. What topic can you elaborate on better that's your niche? Get some sparks with our list below:

• The danger of cyberbullying
• Freelancing under the gig economy
• Fast fashion and its environmental impacts
• How podcast has evolved
• Dystopian society in George Orwell's literature
• Common health disorders you might have
• What is aphasia?
• Caffeine myths - are they real?
• The perks of having a personality test
• The rise and fall of Genghis Khan 
• What happens to the brain when you’re in long-distance relationships?
• Is it too late to care about the environment?
• The consequences of relying on Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• The ways anxiety disorders disrupt our life
• 6 economic terms you need to know 
• Gods in Greek mythology versus Roman mythology
• Origins of Kungfu
• Ethics of genetic modification
• The supernatural strength of cockroaches
• Is social media detox necessary?
• The history of the Silk Road
• What is the world’s most dangerous disease in the 21st century?
• Reasons to do self-journaling everyday
• New trends in careers
• Five reasons to get some quality time for yourself
• The best food to cook when you’re in a hurry
• How to order the best Starbucks drink ever
• Ideas and practices that you follow and would like others to know about
• 5 ways to make a pancake
• Introduction to blockchain 

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Get any of the above examples as templates. Sign up for free and take what you want from the template library!

Bonus Video ▶ How to make a 10-minute presentation

If you feel like a 5-minute presentation would be too stifling, stretch it to 10! Here's how to do that...

Remember, less is more, except when it comes to ice cream. 

That's why amid hundreds of methods to use, we've boiled it down into these four simple steps to make a killer 5-minute presentation.

Let's jump right in!

#1 - Choose your topic  

How do you know if that topic is "the one" for you? For us, the right topic ticks everything on this checklist:

✅ Stick to one key point. It's unlikely you'll have time to address more than one topic, so limit yourself to one and don’t go over it! 

✅ Know your audience. You don't want to waste time covering information they already know. Everyone knows 2 plus 2 is 4, so move on and never look back.

✅ Go with a simple topic. Again, explaining something that requires time should be off the checklist since you can't cover it all.

✅ Don't dwell on unfamiliar topics to minimise the time and effort you spend preparing the presentation. It should be something you already have on your mind.

Need some help finding the right topic for your short presentation? We've got 30 topics with different themes to captivate your audience.

#2 - Create your slides 

Unlike the long presentation format in which you can have as many slides as you want, a five-minute presentation typically has significantly fewer slides. Because imagine each slide would take you roughly 40 seconds to 1 minute to go through, that's already five slides in total. Not much to think about, eh? 

However, your slide count doesn't matter more than the essence each slide contains . We know that it's tempting to pack it full of text, but keep in mind that you should be the subject your audience focuses on, not a wall of text. 

Check these examples below.

Make the text bold to highlight important parts and use italics primarily to denote titles and the names of particular works or objects to allow that title or name to stand out from the surrounding sentence. The underlining text also helps draw attention to it, but it is most commonly used to represent a hyperlink on a webpage.

You obviously saw the second example and thought there's no way you're going to read through this on the big screen.

The point is this: keep slides straight, concise, and short, as you've got 5 minutes only. 99% of the info should come from your mouth.

When you’re keeping text minimal, don't forget to befriend visuals , as they can be your best sidekicks. Startling statistics, infographics, short animations, pictures of whales, etc., all are great attention grabbers and help you sprinkle your unique trademark and personality on each slide. 

And how many words should be there in a 5-minute speech script? It mainly depends on the visuals or data you show in your slides and also your speech speed. However, a 5-minute speech is roughly 700 words long. 

Secret tip: Go the extra length by making your presentation interactive. You can add a live poll , Q&A section , or quiz that illustrates your points and leaves a lasting impression on the audience.

Get Interactive, Fast 🏃‍♀️

Make the most of your 5 minutes with a free interactive presentation tool!

#3 - Get the timing right

When you're looking at this, we only have one thing to say: STOP PROCRASTINATING! For such a short presentation, there's virtually no time for "ah", "uh" or short pauses, because every moment counts. So, plan the timing of each section with military precision. 

How should it look? Check out the example below: 

• 30 seconds on the introduction . And no more. If you spend too much time on the intro, your main part will have to be sacrificed, which is a no-no.
• 1 minute on stating the problem . Tell the audience the problem you are trying to solve for them, i.e., what they are here for. 
• 3 minutes on the solution . This is where you deliver the most essential info to the audience. Tell them what they need to know, not what is "nice to have". For example, if you're presenting how to make a cake, list each item's ingredients or measurement, as that’s all essential information. However, additional information like icing and presentation is not essential and can be cut.
• 30 seconds on the conclusion . This is where you reinforce your main points, wrap up and have a call to action.
• You can end with a small Q&A .  Since it isn’t technically a part of the 5-minute presentation, you can take as much time as you want to answer the questions. 

How many times should you practice a 5-minute speech? To nail these timings down, make sure you practice religiously. A 5-minute presentation requires more practice than a regular one, as you won’t have as much wiggle room or chance for improvisation.

Also, don't forget to check your equipment to ensure everything runs smoothly. When you’ve only got 5 minutes, you don't want to waste any time fixing the mic,  presentation, or other equipment.

#4 - Deliver your presentation 

Imagine you're watching an exciting video but it keeps.lagging.every.10.seconds. You’d be super annoyed, right? Well, so would your audience if you keep confusing them with abrupt, unnatural speech. 

It's normal to feel pressured to talk because you feel every minute is precious. But crafting the convo in a way that makes the crowd understand the assignment is so much more important. 

Our first tip for delivering a great presentation is to practice flowing . From the introduction to the conclusion, every part needs to connect and link with each other like glue.

Go between the sections repeatedly (remember to set the timer). If there's any part in which you feel the urge to speed up, then consider trimming it down or articulating it differently.

Our second tip is for reeling in the audience from the first sentence .

There are countless ways to start a presentation . You can get factual with a shocking, on-topic fact or mention a humorous quote that gets your audience laughing and melting away their (and your) tension.

Secret tip: Don't know if your 5-minute presentation makes an impact? Use a feedback tool to collect the audience's sentiment right away. It takes minimal effort, and you avoid losing valuable feedback along the way.

5 Common Mistakes When Giving a 5-Minute Presentation

We overcome and adapt through trial and error, but it’s easier to avoid rookie mistakes if you know what they are👇

• Going way past your allotted time slot. Since the 15 or 30-minute presentation format has long dominated the scene, keeping it brief is difficult. But unlike the long format, which gives you a bit of flexibility on time, the audience knows exactly what 5 minutes feels like and, therefore will expect you to condense the information within the time limit.
• Having a decade-long introduction. Rookie mistake. Spending your precious time telling people who you are or what you’re going to do isn’t the best plan. As we said, we’ve got a bunch of beginning tips for you here . 
• Don't dedicate enough time to prepare. Most people skip the practice part since they think it’s 5 minutes, and they can quickly fill that up, which is an issue. If in a 30-minute presentation, you can get away with “filler” content, the 5-minute presentation doesn’t even allow you to pause for more than 10 seconds.    
• Devote too much time explaining complicated concepts. A 5-minute presentation doesn’t have room for that. If one point you’re explaining needs to link to other points for further elaboration, it’s always a good idea to revise it and dig deeper into only one aspect of the topic.
• Putting too many complex elements. When making a 30-minute presentation, you might add different elements, such as storytelling and animation, to keep the audience engaged. In a much shorter form, everything needs to be straight to the point, so choose your words or the transition carefully.

To help you grasp how to make a 5-minute presentation, check these short presentation examples, to nail any message!

William Kamkwamba: 'How I Harnessed the Wind' 

This TED Talk video presents the story of William Kamkwamba, an inventor from Malawi who, as a kid experiencing poverty, built a windmill to pump water and generate electricity for his village. Kamkwamba’s natural and straightforward storytelling was able to captivate the audience, and his usage of short pauses for people to laugh is also another great technique.

Susan V. Fisk: ‘The Importance of Being Concise’

This training video offers helpful tips for scientists to structure their talk to fit the “5 Minute Rapid” presentation format, which is also explained in 5 minutes. If you plan to create a “How-to” quick presentation, look at this example.

Jonathan Bell: ‘How to Create a Great Brand Name’

As the title refers to itself, the speaker Jonathan Bell will give you a step-by-step guide on how to create a lasting brand name. He gets straight to the point with his topic and then breaks it down into smaller components. A good example to learn from.

PACE Invoice: ‘5 Min Pitch at Startupbootcamp’

This video shows how PACE Invoice , a start-up specialising in multi-currency payment processing, was able to pitch its ideas to investors clearly and concisely.

Will Stephen: ‘How to Sound Smart in Your TEDx Talk’

Using a humorous and creative approach, Will Stephen’s TEDx Talk guides people through the general skills of public speaking. A must-watch to craft your presentation into a masterpiece.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why a 5-minute presentation is important.

A 5-minute presentation shows the ability to manage time, grab the audience's attention, and mirror-like clarification as it requires lots of practice to make it perfect! Besides, there are various suitable speech topics for 5 minutes that you can refer to and adapt to your own.

Who gave the best 5-minute Presentation?

There are lots of impactful presenters over time, with the most famous man named Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk titled "Do Schools Kill Creativity?", which has been viewed millions of times and has become one of the most-watched TED talks of all time. In the talk, Robinson delivers a humorous and engaging presentation on the importance of nurturing creativity in education and society.

Leah Nguyen

Words that convert, stories that stick. I turn complex ideas into engaging narratives - helping audiences learn, remember, and take action.

Tips to Engage with Polls & Trivia

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Creative Presentation Ideas Without PowerPoint: 7 Unique Ways to Engage Your Audience

Are you in a creative rut when it comes to making presentations and engaging your audience? Have you found yourself relying too much on good ol’ PowerPoint and need a breath of fresh air? We have the ultimate answer to your woes – 7 unique ways to present your subject without PowerPoint! These top 7 suggestions guarantee to get your audiences’ attention, keep them engaged, and make them beg for more. From utilizing props and infographics to interactive activities and storytelling, you’ll be able to find the method that works best for you. And they all come without having to use PowerPoint! So Read on to discover the secrets behind our top 7 creative presentation ideas without PowerPoint, and how you can make your next presentation a smashing success!

Quick Breakdown

There are many creative ways to present information without using PowerPoint, such as creating a hands-on demonstration , using scanned images with voiceover narration, or making a video. You can also use posters, flipcharts , props, and other visuals to help engage your audience.

Explaining Concepts with Storytelling

Storytelling can be a powerful way to explore complex concepts and engage with audiences. Using stories to explain ideas encourages critical thinking, increases audience engagement, and gives meaning to abstract topics. Unlike the structure of PowerPoint slides, storytelling allows for organic dialogue between presenter and audience, creating an environment where both are actively involved in exploring concepts. Furthermore, by using a narrative approach to present information, ideas become easier to remember as they are given much-needed context. Arguments against using stories as a means of communication focus on its relative unstructured nature and the lack of advantages that tangible visuals provide. Others find it difficult to measure engagement when using stories as opposed to traditional PowerPoint slides or other visual aids . However, the most effective storytellers understand how to use emotion, tension, humor, surprise, and suspense to narrate concrete arguments that will stay with their audiences long after their presentations have ended. Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of interpersonal communication; it’s no wonder the listener’s attention is captured from start to finish. By creatively utilizing this ancient technique in combination with modern teaching practices, presenters can captivate their audiences with gripping narratives about important topics. Such engagement not only encourages comprehension but also sparks curiosity and debate among listeners. With so much potential for success, explain concepts with storytelling has become increasingly popular in business settings and other professional environments. Ready to take your presentation skills up a notch? By engaging audiences with interactivity you can ensure that your audience members leave with a full understanding of the concept you were trying share while having a great time doing it!

Engaging Audiences with Interactivity

Interactivity is a great tool for engaging (and not boring) audiences in a presentation. Interactivity can come in many forms and can be tailored to the subject matter, needs of the presenter, and objectives of the audience. Depending on the environment and resources available, there are several ways to introduce interactive elements into presentations. Two popular types of interactivity that can be used are Q&A sessions and polling or surveys . Q&A sessions can be structured by designating time at the end of the presentation or set up as an ongoing part of the presentation. This allows the presenter to quickly address questions from the audience while also staying on topic and providing additional clarity when necessary. Polling or surveys are great for getting more in-depth opinions from participants on a specific topic, helping to provide further context around various aspects of presentation topics . Another method for introducing interactivity is game-based activities. This could include quizzes, challenges, puzzles, scavenger hunts, and other types of games depending on the objectives. Games are often a great way to get people engaged with one another as well as pique interest in the content presented. It’s important to carefully consider whether this type of activity is appropriate for your particular situation prior to implementing it into a presentation. Overall, there is no single best way to incorporate interactivity into your presentation but it is a powerful tool that can help make it successful if used correctly. It’s important to understand how certain interactive elements might affect your message by building in enough time for feedback and thorough responses if needed. With careful planning and consideration for all audiences involved, you can craft engaging presentations without relying on PowerPoint alone. Next we will look at how using an interactive whiteboard is another great alternative for presenting without PowerPoint.

Interactive Whiteboard

Interactive whiteboard technologies offer content-rich, audience-engaging presentations without the same level of formality as PowerPoint. With an interactive whiteboard, you can tap into a wide variety of multimedia content that encourages audience engagement and creativity while reducing any text-heavy messages. A well-made and engaging presentation on an interactive whiteboard can provide students or trainees with an immersive experience, allowing them to visualize and understand complex topics in ways that are not possible with traditional paper-based materials. From the point of view of traditional powerpoint presentations, one advantage of an interactive whiteboard is the fact that the audience can actively participate in the process by sharing their thoughts or responses via either verbal discussion, written comments, or drawings in real time. Other benefits include simple navigation and navigation tools for finding specific parts or pages within a presentation. Additionally, sound effects like music or videos may also be included to make the presentation more attention-grabbing and creative. A disadvantage is that interactive whiteboard systems are typically more expensive than traditional PowerPoint software. Moreover, they often require additional hardware such as a projector or other devices needed to connect it to media sources such as computers and tablets. Furthermore, without technical support assistance at hand, it can be difficult for those who are unfamiliar with this technology to operate the interactive board effectively. Therefore, it is important to take into consideration these potential cons before planning a presentation on an interactive whiteboard system. Overall, when used responsibly and creatively, an interactive whiteboard provides a captivating alternative to PowerPoint presentations without diminishing its educational value and potential effectiveness in communicating key messages and ideas to your target audience. As the next section will discuss further, adding hands-on activities to your presentation is another way create impactful and engaging experiences for your attendees.

Hands-On Activities

Hands-on activities evoke a sense of participation and engagement that can be just as powerful as engaging with a PowerPoint presentation. However, they work best with smaller audiences where the participants are able to get up close to the facilitator and interact with one another. Depending on the type of message you’re trying to convey, different types of hands-on activities may be suitable. For example, if you want to capture creative ideas in a group setting, an exercise such as “speed sketching” could be conducted. Everyone in the group would have to collaboratively draw a set concept or idea in five minutes or less . Alternatively, if you’re trying to inspire people about a specific topic, physical representation will help them retain more information and give them a better understanding of complex topics . More traditional activities such as panel discussions and debates are also great options for fostering an interactive environment amongst any audience. Leading into the next section: Illustrating ideas with multimedia has been tried and tested by many businesses and organizations for its ability to effectively engage larger audiences who may have varying interests or perspectives on the topic being presented.

Illustrating Ideas with Multimedia

When it comes to creative presentation ideas without PowerPoint, leveraging multimedia to illustrate ideas can be an effective method of bringing the audience into an experience and capturing their attention. Multimedia elements such as images, videos, audio clips, and even live web streams can help bring the presentation to life and add a “wow” factor that PowerPoint cannot provide. Not only can visuals help encourage engagement, but this type of multimedia also helps break up the monotony associated with lecturing for long periods of time. By introducing multimedia elements during a presentation, audiences will find this type of approach to be interesting and memorable. Using multimedia for presentations can also add to the impact of narrative content. Rather than just reading from a script or speaking from memory, adding visuals or sound effects can make stories more captivating while strengthening an argument. That said, it’s important to remember there are drawbacks associated with multimedia elements. If not used sparingly, they can quickly become too distracting or take away from the message you’re trying to convey. Ensuring multimedia adds value instead of detracts from your talk is key when leveraging multimedia in creative presentations. Finally, leveraging multi-media is only one side of incorporating creative techniques into a presentation — performance demonstrations are another great way to engage an audience. In the next section we’ll look at how you can use props and physical demonstrations to capture the audience’s attention and create a lasting impression.

• According to a 2004 study , PowerPoint is just presentation technology’s latest iteration and will eventually be replaced by something else.

Performance Demonstrations

Performance Demonstrations are a great way to keep your audience engaged and excited about your presentation. Whether you decide to show off a skill you possess or hire an expert in their field, an engaging, “real performance” is sure to leave a lasting impression on your audience. The advantages of performing a demonstration are that it keeps the audience focused, provides an interactive element to the presentation and makes for a more creative form of communication. Additionally, it allows the presenter to explain some abstract ideas in concrete terms. For example, when explaining aerodynamics, if you have an expert mathematician available, they could use calculus to calculate air resistance and lift force while teaching the audience a physical demonstration. On the other hand, there are potential downsides when incorporating performance demonstrations into your presentation. Not everyone will understand the topic presented; visual learners may comprehend more easily than those with auditory learning styles and vice-versa. Additionally, performance demonstrations run the risk of not being done effectively causing confusion instead of clarity during the presentation. Regardless of these drawbacks, if done correctly, performance demonstrations can be a great way to engage any audience. Following this section about Performance Demonstrations we will explore how Presenters can use Physical Objects as another unique way to capture an audience’s attention and lead them through their message without PowerPoint.

Present Ideas Using Physical Objects

Using physical objects to convey a message can be an effective and creative means to engage an audience. By incorporating tangible elements, such as props, displays, and other materials, presenters can physically demonstrate a concept or idea in a way that captures attention and encourages interaction. Additionally, physical objects can enable the audience to have both tactile interaction as well as visual stimulation. This can help to keep individuals focused on the presentation and more likely to remember what is being said. For example, while explaining increasing sales numbers over time, a presenter may use a graph written on a whiteboard with colored markers. As each section of the graph is explained, the presenter can point to sections of the board with the markers to emphasize certain points or data points. This allows for visual tracking of progress on the graph, as well as directing attention away from other slides or topics being discussed. Furthermore, using physical markers instead of electronic slides gives the audience something tangible with which to interact and remember. Physical objects may also be used as props for storytelling or examples within a presentation. However, this approach can prove difficult if not done correctly due to unexpected issues with transport or storage of materials. If not managed properly ahead of time, these unforeseen problems can have an impact on the quality of the presentation and its potential success. For this reason it is important to weigh all options carefully before selecting any physical props for incorporation into the presentation.

Visual Props

Visual props are a great way to engage audiences and create interesting presentations. These props can include items such as whiteboards and markers, storyboards, sculptures, or even art installations. Visual props can be used to illustrate complex concepts, break up information into more concentrated bits, and make your audience feel like they are actively participating in the presentation. On one hand, visual props might help enhance rather than dominate a presentation. Rather than simply showing an audience slides of written words on a screen and speaking over them, visual props may allow the presenter to incorporate elements of drama and interaction with the audience. For example, depending on the type of prop you choose, viewers may be encouraged to ask questions or share their experiences in relation to what is being presented. On the other hand, using too many props can become overwhelming for an audience and detract from the larger message you want to convey. Additionally, if your chosen prop is too heavy or bulky it can become difficult for a presenter to move around while speaking over them. It is important to focus on how much of your prop should be seen and how much of it should remain behind-the-scenes or in storage during a presentation so that it has maximum impact if needed but also won’t distract from the topic at hand. Overall, visual props provide an effective way to engage viewers in a presentation without the use of PowerPoint. With thoughtful planning, visuals can be used in strategic ways that emphasize key points and foster a greater understanding rather than being distracting or overwhelming to your audience. In order to reach your audience with flashcards – the next step after incorporating visual props – additional considerations have to be taken regarding content selection as well as readability and accessibility.

Reaching the Audience with Flashcards

Using flashcards is a great way to engage an audience and make sure information is retained. This can be done before your presentation, during question and answer, or at the end as a review for what has been discussed. Flashcards are especially helpful for presentations that include a lot of facts and/or data, as they allow individuals to easily retain information without relying on taking notes. Moreover, flashcards can be used in creative ways to keep an audience’s attention. For example, a presenter can set up different stations throughout the room that have cards which can be collected during the presentation. Additionally, they can be used as an interactive prop to illustrate points or ask questions to audience members. Finally, they can be used as part of a game or challenge to test how well attendees absorbed the content. The downside is that using flashcards can take up considerable time depending on the size of the audience and it must be incorporated correctly into the flow of the presentation to avoid disruption. Additionally, it may not be effective if you are presenting topics with limited supporting numbers or facts. That being said, incorporating flashcards into an engaging presentation when done properly adds excitement and encourages participation among attendees. As mentioned previously, there are many different ways to creatively engage your audience without having to rely on tools like PowerPoint. However, having a few final tips will help make sure your unique presentation goes off without a hitch so let’s discuss that in the following section: A Few Final Tips on Creative Presentations.

A Few Final Tips on Creative Presentations

Creating a successful and engaging presentation without PowerPoint can be difficult. Apart from frameworking it differently and using alternative tools, there are a few time-tested approaches that could help you create powerful presentations. Here are a few tips to consider when creating creative presentations without PowerPoint. 1. Develop Your Story: Whether it’s one of your own experiences or craft an interesting case study for the audience to learn from, using the story format allows for naturally captivating presentation. By starting with a hook and weaving through historical perspectives and facts, you can make sure your presentation will be more memorable and enjoyable for the audience. 2. Have Fun With It: When developing your presentation without PowerPoint, it’s essential that your main focus is getting the information across in an easy-to-understand yet engaging way. Having fun while delivering the content will make it easier for audience members of all age ranges to remember what they were taught. 3. Enrich with Visuals: A presentation isn’t complete if there aren’t visuals to enhance the delivery of your message or topic. Tools like Prezi and PowToon are great alternatives to PowerPoint that you can use if you want to add visual appeal to your next presentation; similarly, incorporating images or art into your slides will guarantee attendees understand essential points they need to take away from your content delivery process. 4. Set Your Audience Expectations: Prepare a clear plan before presenting so that every component found within each slide is communicated effectively and thoroughly explained during the talk; also tell your audience exactly what you should expect from them as well – is there a question and answer session ? Do they have an activity or assignment to complete by the end? By providing these expectations ahead of time, navigating through the material will appear much easier both visually and mentally. 5. Practice & Rehearse: No matter how great of an idea you come up with, if you don’t practice it beforehand then it won’t go over as smoothly as intended. Make sure you’re well rehearsed on all topics covered within the presentation so that no questions go unheard due to memory recall issues caused by stress in public speaking contexts; additionally, rehearsing frequently also allows for polish lines that add even more flavor to any speech! When crafting a creative presentation without PowerPoint, following these top tips helps ensure success in each delivery. As long as thought is put into their approach beforehand, practically anyone can develop an effective method for teaching others without relying solely on slideshows generated through computer software programs like Microsoft Office Suite products!

Responses to Frequently Asked Questions

What are the advantages of using alternative presentation ideas without powerpoint.

The advantages of using alternative presentation ideas without Powerpoint are plentiful. For starters, they allow speakers to be more creative and expressive since they don’t need to limit themselves to text-based slides and static visuals. Additionally, these alternatives can be especially effective for highly interactive or participatory presentations. For example, having audience members take part in activities such as role playing, group exercises and simulations can help create an engaging dynamic and offer a much more immersive experience than a traditional powerpoint presentation. Finally, alternative presentation ideas allow the speaker to use a wide range of media formats including videos, visuals, music and sound effects to present their message in a compelling way. These elements can create emotional connections with the audience that are unlikely to be achieved through static “bulleted text” slides.

How can I make an effective presentation without Powerpoint?

Making an effective presentation without Powerpoint can be achieved by leveraging various creative techniques. Firstly, it is important to know your audience and the message which you are trying to convey. When beginning a presentation without Powerpoint, it is beneficial to start strong with a short introduction of yourself and the topic. This will help the audience to more easily relate to what you are sharing. Secondly, using hands-on activities such as demonstrations or simulations are powerful teaching tools that could help to engage your audience in the presentation. You may also consider using props, videos/animations or storytelling techniques as they can draw in an audience and bring to life the subject matter. Thirdly, focus on keeping your audience well informed throughout the duration of the presentation by strategically placing breaks or visual cues. This can make the content easier to digest, in addition to lightening up any dull sections with humour or anecdotes. Lastly, end on a strong note and ensure that there is closure after delivering your message. Acknowledging any questions from the audience, a summary of what was discussed and thanking them for attending will help round off a successful presentation without Powerpoint.

What are some creative presentation formats that do not require Powerpoint?

Creative presentation formats that do not require Powerpoint include: 1. Storytelling – Use stories to bring your message to life and engage your audience. Telling an interesting, engrossing, or even personal story can be a great way to capture and retain the attention of your audience. 2. Role Play – An interactive way to demonstrate a concept is by having people act out scenarios related to the topic at hand. Whether it’s two people performing a skit or a large group of volunteers playing characters in a scene, role play can make abstract concepts concrete while providing a visual aid for the rest of your audience to latch onto. 3. Visual Presentations – One of the most common forms of presentations rely on visuals such as diagrams, maps, charts, etc., rather than words. Incorporating some visual elements will make it easier for people to understand certain key points in your discussion as well as help you keep your audience engaged during long sections of speech. 4. Demonstration – Show don’t tell is an old adage that applies when presenting without Powerpoint. You might prefer to use the time allotted for interactive demonstrations either in person or video clips that show the product or service in action. 5. Workshops – Teaching your audience a new skill or practice can be incredibly engaging while managing to educate them along the way as well. Setting up guided workshops with activities designed around group dynamics can also be highly effective in terms of creating lasting engagement with everyone present.

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• Presentations

How to Make a Better Presentation Without PowerPoint (+Top Alternatives)

• Bahasa Indonesia

Do you have to make a presentation soon? It probably isn't your first. You know the drill:

• Fire up PowerPoint, or Keynote.
• Create some slides.
• Try some new fonts.
• Play with a new template.

And yet, you're still feeling unenthused. You want something new, something different.

Maybe you're putting together the monthly sales report, and you're presenting it to your bosses yet again. Or, you're pitching something to a brand new client and you need to make an impact. You know they've heard other proposals, and you want yours to stand out from the rest. Or, you're struggling to figure out how to get a PowerPoint presentation to look nice in the first place.

We've already looked at the absolute basics of making a presentation with PowerPoint:

But do you know how to make a presentation without PowerPoint?

In this article, we review a few different types of powerful alternatives to PowerPoint presentation software. We explore why you might want to use each of these options, and how you can quickly put them to work for you. We also take a quick look at how to make a presentation without PowerPoint. We'll explore creative presentation ideas other than PowerPoint or any other slide presentation software tool. 

We also have a comprehensive eBook you can download for free:  The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations .  It'll help you master the complete presentation process.

So, we've seen how you can make a great presentation in any app. But perhaps you want more. In that case, you need the " anti-PowerPoints ," the newest apps with novel approaches to presentations. 

Let's dive in. 

How to Engage Your Presentation Audience - Without PowerPoint

It's easy to think only of software tools such as PowerPoint when you consider giving a presentation. But there are many PowerPoint alternatives you can use to make an effective presentation. Some of those tools and techniques aren't even software oriented.

The main goal of any good presentation is to engage your audience. If you'll be giving a presentation, first consider using one or more of these creative presentation ideas without PowerPoint or the need for other software:

• Props . Show and Tell isn't just for elementary school. If you bring an example of what you're talking about, your audience will be more receptive to what you're saying. Make sure that whatever object you use as a prop is large enough to be seen by everyone in the audience.
• Q&A . Give your audience a chance to get involved in your presentation by scheduling a question and answer session as part of your presentation. Or, provide another twist on Q & A and let a panel of experts answer audience questions. 
• Videos . Slide presentations are great and so is added animation. But sometimes what your audience really needs is a quick movie. A short video presentation can increase audience interest when it's relevant to the point you're making.
• Music . Research shows that adding music to your presentation helps your listeners remember what you're saying.
• Humor . Adding a joke into your presentation can lighten your audience's mood and make them more receptive to what you've got to say.

To learn more about how to connect with your audience, and more creative presentation ideas without the need for PowerPoint, review this tutorial:

Now that we've explored some non-technical PowerPoint alternatives, let's look at some great software PowerPoint alternatives.

1. Great Alternatives to PowerPoint: Google Slides & Keynote

Of course, there are many other alternatives to PowerPoint when it comes to selecting presentation software. Two of the most notable options are Google Slides and Keynote . Let's take a quick look at each of these tools:

Google Slides

Google Slides has come a long way since it was introduced as part of Google apps included with Google Drive. One of its strengths is that it's web-based. That makes it ideal for collaboration. If you need to work with someone else on your presentation, Google Slides may be the right choice for you.

Keynote is part of Apple's iWork productivity suite. The intuitive interface will be familiar to Mac users. But if you want to open a Keynote file on a PC you will need to export it to either a .pdf or .ppt file.

For a more in-depth look at both Google Slides and Keynote, as well as a comparative look at PowerPoint, review this article:

2. The Original Anti-PowerPoint: Prezi

When it comes to the "anti-PowerPoints,"  Prezi is king. It walks that fine line between being unique yet understandable, engaging and yet still comfortable. Prezi bills itself as a " nonlinear presentation tool. " That's an apt description for an app that flies in the face of traditional presentations' " stack of slides " metaphor. 

Prezi Is a Powerful Nonlinear Presentation Tool

Instead of seeing each part of your presentation as individual slides, Prezi lets you lay out your entire presentation on one canvas, and then zoom in and out to see specific points or the bigger picture. 

You've likely already seen nonlinear presentations during TED talks. Perhaps you've seen infographic-style videos that put info together for a big picture at the end. It can be an effective presentation style for conveying information that goes together—or just for spicing up a traditional presentation.

If you want to make nonlinear presentation, you'll find that Prezi is a great app for it. It's simple to use, with an interface that keeps enough of the traditional slide layout to make you feel comfortable with it, while giving you the simple tools you need to format your text and more. 

As a web app, you can use Prezi from any computer, and collaborate with others on the same presentation. But then, that's not much different from Google Slides , Keynote for iCloud , and Microsoft's PowerPoint web app.

Prezi's main differentiator, of course, is its nonlinear presentation style. That's tough to really capture with mere words. So, check out the short video below to see Prezi in action, and how its nonlinear format changes the way you think about presentations:

Isn't that cool?! Prezi really is a great solution when you feel like you've seen one-too-many PowerPoint presentations. The online tools are very intuitive and easy to use, you'll be creating Prezis in no time. It's the perfect first app to try if you want alternatives to PowerPoint for your next presentation.

3. Do-It-Yourself Animated Videos

This is an interesting segment of the " anti-PowerPoint " market. Tools to help you make those popular stop-motion animation films or hand-drawn cartoons that are so popular for advertising new apps these days. 

As with any filming, hand-animated videos are difficult and time-consuming to make and need a ton of expensive equipment. That's clearly more work to take on than you want for your next presentation.

But with animation apps, you can get a similar effect far cheaper, and in far less time. That makes them perfect for something you'd otherwise have tried to describe with a PowerPoint slide deck. Plus, animated clips have the advantage of letting you step outside of the laws of physics and reality. They help you make an idea or concept more understandable than it otherwise would have been.

Now, if you're truly wanting a full-featured animated video, you'll never have a replacement for professional animators. Each of these apps, even though billed as " professional animated tools ," are simplified animation tools designed just for making a simple demonstration video. That's great if that's all you need, but don't dive in thinking you'll be able to make the next Paperman  in five minutes.

If you're wanting to make a much better presentation than PowerPoint—or Prezi—could ever allow, though, these tools are perfect. They'll let you put together a hand-drawn animated video in minutes, ready to show off your ideas better than bullet points ever could. Here's the best apps for that:

Vyond - Powerful PowerPoint Alternative

In the realm of online do-it-yourself animation tools, Vyond  is at the top of its game. Its web app makes it easy to pull their wide array of animation styles and pre-made graphics together into an animated presentation. You can easily customize those graphics as well, so your finished product will look like your very own—even if it's built from stock graphics.

Beyond just the animated graphics, Vyond supports audio, too. You can give your characters dialog, uploading your own voice recordings—or outsourcing to professional voice actors. And those characters will automatically get built-in lip sync animations. But more than just the spoken word, Vyond offers a library of both music and sound effects, helping your animation really come to life. Once things are finished, you've got a wide array of one-click export options to various social networks. Or if you'd prefer, you can download an HD video file for use wherever you like.

The app  is very polished. If you're wanting to quickly make animated videos, it's a great option. All in all, Vyond's vast catalog of built-in customizable graphics and audio support with lip sync animations makes it a great PowerPoint Alternative if you want to animate your next presentation.

VideoScribe - Creative PowerPoint Alternative

VideoScribe carved out a nifty little niche for itself by letting you create those fancy " whiteboard animations " that have become a huge hit across the Web. If you aren't sure what I'm talking about, have a look at this video, produced by VideoScribe . Cool, right?

I'm a big fan of this style of animation, but it can be a costly thing to produce custom. What VideoScribe lets you do is take a whole bunch of pre-drawn, pre-animated images, put them together in a way that best suits you and the message you want to convey. Then it turns the whole thing into a slick little animation. Where Vyond lets you make a cartoon-style video, VideoScribe gives you similar stock graphics that'll be drawn on-screen during your presentation with a real hand, to give the feel of someone sketching your presentation.

It's surprisingly simple to put together a VideoScribe—much like you might expect. You'll mainly drag-and-drop pre-made graphics into the storyboard. Then let the app work its own magic—and you can have something presentable worked up in a matter of minutes.

This sort of video will definitely make an impact if all your audience was expecting was a humdrum PowerPoint presentation.

4. HTML-Based Presentations With Reveal.js

Then, with the apps we've looked at so far being web apps, it's only fitting to look at the latest " anti-PowerPoint" : HTML-powered presentations. As you've perhaps seen from some Google IO conference presentations, there's plenty of web features today to turn basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript into a full presentation that's just an animated website. 

You can create your presentations in your favorite code editor, save them online in revision control tools like Git, and present them in any browser. Anything you can add to a website, you can put into an HTML presentation.

That's very cool, but it'd also typically take far longer to make presentations with raw code than it'd ever take to make a PowerPoint presentation. But thanks to  Reveal.js  and its web app counterpart,  Slides , it's as easy to make an HTML presentation as it is to make a presentation in any of the other apps we've looked at.

Reveal.js is an open-source framework for turning an HTML document into a killer presentation. It's pretty impressive. Just look at this introduction presentation to get a feel for what Reveal.js is capable of—especially considering it's all done with standards-compliant HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It offers modern transitions, some subtly non-linear presentation features, and even a PDF export option.

If you're capable of hand-writing your own HTML code, then take a look at the documentation for Reveal.js on Github . With the help of some JavaScript code and specific tag attributes on your HTML elements, Reveal.js turns a typical HTML document into a fancy presentation, for free.

But then, everyone doesn't want to hand-code an HTML page each time they make a presentation, so that's where  Slides comes in. It's a hosted version of Reveal.js, combined with an elegant GUI. So, you can use its power to make your own slideshows with the simple tools you'd expect from any other presentations app. There's even the extra features, such as web fonts and CSS customization, that you'd expect from a web-powered presentation.

Both Reveal.js and Slides have lots to offer—the former's great if you're comfortable coding your own presentation. The latter's a perfect option if you're looking for a new, simpler presentations app that won't need any coding.

You can read more about Slides below.

Visme is a software where you can create a presentation without PowerPoint. It's a cloud-based software where you can create more than just presentations. You can also create:

• infographics
• data visualizations
• product demos

Visme comes with templates that you can use. Along with templates, there are millions of free images, thousands of icons, and hundreds of fonts. You can share your presentation by sharing a URL or embed it into a blog post or web page.

Visme is a free software. But to unlock premium features you need the Starter or Pro packages, which bill at $12.25 USD per month or $24.75 USD per month.

6.   Slides

Slides is another cloud-based alternative where you can create a presentation without PowerPoint. This software allows you to edit and access presentations from multiple devices and also allows you to present offline.

For example, if you've got a math-based presentation, Slides makes it easy with the ability to display math formulas. There are three purchase options for slides starting with the Lite options, which start at $5 per month and are billed annually.

7. Zoho Show

Zoho Show is a software where you can create a presentation without PowerPoint. It’s a part of a workplace bundle. With this software, you can embed live tweets, YouTube videos, and Flickr images. The Workplace Bundle plans start a USD three a month per person billed annually.

Canva is an easy-to-use alternative to PowerPoint. This presentation without PowerPoint software comes with templates ready to use. You’ll have access to millions of images if you use the paid plan. 

This free software comes with premium features you can get with the Canva Pro Plan is USD 119.99 per year per person.

Make Great Presentations (Free PDF eBook Download)

Grab this new eBook:  The Complete Guide to Making Great Presentations . It's available for FREE with your subscription to the Tuts+ Business Newsletter. 

It'll help walk you through the complete presentation process. Learn how to write your presentation, use the best presentation software, design like a pro, and deliver memorably. 

Which PowerPoint Alternative Is Best for Your Next Presentation?

There you have it. We've looked at how to do a presentation without PowerPoint and dived into the best types of " anti-PowerPoint " apps:

• nonlinear presentations
• animated drawn presentations
• HTML presentations

You've learned about ways to present other than PowerPoint. We've also discussed Google Slides and Keynote. If you're looking for a tool with a different perspective, then Prezi can help breathe some life into an otherwise tired presentation. 

Also, if you want to really stand-out, you can do so by putting together an animated short that helps explain your point for you. If so, Vyond and VideoScribe are great options to work with. And finally, if the flexibility of an HTML-based presentation has you intrigued, there's Reveal.js and its web-app counterpart, Slid.es, to explore.

The next time you've got to put together a presentation, instead of just reaching for the safe choice of PowerPoint or Keynote, give one of these alternatives to PowerPoint tools a try. They're your best shot to help your presentation stand out and actually get people's attention.

Editorial Note : This post was originally published in 2014. It's been comprehensively revised to make current, accurate, and up to date by our staff—with special help from Laura Spencer and Sarah Joy .

How to Create an Engaging 5-Minute Presentation

Published: September 15, 2023

A 5-minute speech can feel both incredibly short and infinitely long.

While this short format encourages audiences to pay more attention, presenters often struggle to fit everything into five minutes even as they navigate nervousness that seems to stretch out each second.

As a result, preparation is key for 5-minute speech success.

But how can you ensure your presentation accomplishes everything it needs to within just five short minutes? We’ve put together an (appropriately condensed) guide on five-minute presentations to help you get started.

How many words are in a 5-minute presentation?

A five-minute presentation is approximately 700 words long. The average person speaks 120 to 160 words a minute, which means the average five-minute presentation is 600 to 800 words.

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To calculate your own personal speaking speed (words per minute, or WPM):

• Make an audio recording of yourself speaking for one minute.
• Use a free transcription service to generate a text version of your speech.
• The number of words you spoke in that minute is your personal WPM.

When constructing a longer presentation, you might be more concerned about transitions and keeping the audience engaged with more extensive narrative elements.

In a short presentation, everything you say should directly tie back to your central premise and further advance your main point.

Keeping a tight scope and using your words carefully ensures your time isn't wasted and the audience leaves with a clear, singular takeaway.

How many slides are in a 5-minute presentation?

Five or six slides, or about one per minute, is a good baseline for a 5-minute presentation. Depending on your subject matter, however, you might use up to 20 slides and spend about 10 or 15 seconds on each.

More important than your slide count is what each slide contains. It‘s a good rule of thumb to keep your slides simple and focused on visuals instead of text for a presentation of any length.

This becomes especially important when you’re dealing with a condensed presentation window.

Trying to cram in as much information as possible within a short time frame can be tempting. Resist the urge. Instead, focus on simple, clean visuals that all tie back to your central premise.

You can also use these free presentation templates to arrange your slides in a way that makes the most sense for your delivery and the content of your presentation.

Don't forget to share this post!

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My Speech Class

Public Speaking Tips & Speech Topics

169 Five-Minute Topics for a Killer Speech or Presentation

Jim Peterson has over 20 years experience on speech writing. He wrote over 300 free speech topic ideas and how-to guides for any kind of public speaking and speech writing assignments at My Speech Class.

There are pros and cons to giving a 5-minute presentation. One good thing is the length. Long presentations can easily become boring, and you have a much better chance of keeping your audience engaged from beginning to end than with a 5-minute speech.

In this article:

Food & Drink

Relationships, social media, supernatural, list of topics for a 5-minute speech or presentation.

Choosing a topic is extremely important. To help you getting started, here is a list of some killer topics for 5-minute speech or presentation.

• Why it’s better to adopt a pet from a shelter
• Choosing the perfect leash for your dog
• What is the best food for your pet?
• How much exercise does your pet need?
• The horror of puppy mills
• Bringing back endangered species
• How long are giraffes in labor
• Domestication of horses
• Picking the right vet
• Sleeping with your dog
• Why should you get goats in pairs
• Ethics of zoos
• The domestication of dogs
• How to keep a goldfish alive for a long time
• How to choose the right pet
• Why cats are so independent
• When to get a dog
• What kind of dog is best for a household with children
• Why therapy animals work
• How to find the money to go to college
• How much control should the federal government have over curriculum design?
• How to choose a college
• Ideas for narrowing down a career choice
• When to declare a major
• Benefits of charter schools
• Why charter schools are bad
• Negative effects of school vouchers
• Attracting the right people to the teaching profession
• Discipline in the classroom
• Memory tricks that work
• Why homework is bad
• Should students still have to use the books in the library?
• Why cursive should still be taught in schools
• Textbooks vs. tablets
• Benefits of going to a trade school
• Are there positives to taking a gap year?
• The problem with low teacher pay
• Social media in the classroom
• Benefits of integrating apps into the classroom
• The importance of attachment
• How to compromise on names for your kids
• What is the ideal age to start a family
• How important are grandparents
• Traveling with children
• Strategies for potty training
• How to help a child with nightmares
• Middle child syndrome
• How many kids should you have?
• How to recognize a gifted child
• When your child doesn’t like to eat
• How to encourage good eating habits
• When to intervene with a bully
• Being active in your child’s school
• The benefits of aunts and uncles
• When family falls apart
• The first days with a new baby
• When to call the doctor
• Caring for an ailing parent
• Balancing home and career
• When to start saving for retirement
• IRA vs. Roth IRA
• When should you start saving for your children’s college education?
• Crowdfunded loans vs. the bank
• How Kickstarter changed everything
• Using your HSA
• How to apply for a mortgage
• Improving your credit score
• How to negotiate a raise
• Renting vs. buying
• How does compound interest work?
• How to ask for a promotion
• When is it time to get a new job?
• What to do when you find out a coworker makes more than you
• How much of a down payment on a house do you really need?
• Living on minimum wage
• Is it better to lease or buy a new car?
• How to budget for a new car
• What to do when you lose your job
• Using credit cards responsibly
• Is rare meat safe?
• Vegan vs. vegetarian
• Microbrews vs. standard brewing
• How to make your own wine
• What are hops?
• Best plants for a backyard garden
• When to transplant sprouts
• Bananas and plantains
• How to make a brine for pickling
• Where did brunch begin?
• Why pineapple belongs on a pizza
• When to order in
• Planning a menu
• Meal planning and grocery lists
• Is free range really better?
• The perfect macaroni and cheese
• Growing your own herbs
• How to make your own pasta
• How to make cookies that are softer
• Benefits of drinking black coffee
• Benefits of a gluten-free diet
• Is the paleo diet accurate?
• Effects of not getting enough sleep
• Are meal subscription services worth it?
• Downsides to Crossfit
• Benefits of yoga
• How to meditate
• Can therapy change the way your mind works?
• Are GMOs really dangerous?
• The truth about diet soda
• Importance of hydration
• Why cleanses don’t work
• Best juice diet
• Most effective exercise for burning calories
• Do essential oils really work?
• The history of television
• When the railway was king
• Thwarted assassination attempts
• The first Olympics
• Media during World War II
• Military advancements between World War I and World War II
• War photographers
• Things you didn’t learn in history class
• Historical lies
• The early Internet
• Why podcasts are great
• Most unbiased news channel
• When do people tune into the news most
• How relevant are women’s magazines?
• Cable vs. Netflix
• How worried should you be about your browsing history?
• How to limit screen time
• Why it’s bad to use your smartphone right before bed
• Apple vs. Android
• The best age to get married
• How to get an amicable divorce
• Finding a roommate
• Splitting financial responsibilities evenly among the household
• How to have a happy marriage
• Choosing your family
• How to fight effectively
• Signs of an abusive relationship
• What to look for in a spouse
• When to let it go
• How to overcome self-doubt
• Faking confidence
• Becoming comfortable with yourself
• How to say no
• Relaxation techniques
• Controlling anxiety
• Qualities of a leader
• The importance of self-care
• Identifying triggers
• How to eliminate negativity
• Making new habits
• Ethics of posting pictures of your children on social media
• How Internet ads are tailored to you
• How to advertise your business on Facebook
• Privacy and social media
• How to protect your personal information
• When to allow your kids to get their own social media accounts
• Why you shouldn’t post your location on social media
• How to use a hashtag
• Uncovering Twitter Bots
• Snapchat etiquette
• Proof that aliens exist
• Debunking crop circles
• Is Bigfoot real?
• Proof that ghosts exist

Good 2-Minute Speech Topics for Students

13 All-Time Best TED Talks

23 thoughts on “169 Five-Minute Topics for a Killer Speech or Presentation”

Ideal Teacher

is life really a blessing?

This has helped me so much for my English class thank you!

Why personal (private) rules are helpful

I got an A!!!!!

Risks of abortion Wage gap How social media impacts education/mental health Why it’s important to have a good stable mental health Do teenagers really spend all their time on their phones Gsce requirements unfair or reasonable

Here is a kind of a dense topic, domestic abuse. Why does it happen? What are some ways to identify a abusive relationship? How does it affect families? Why is the abuser abusive?

We have presentation next week. I can’t think about the topic. Please help me!

i want a topic that involves supernatural: HELP

Is water wet?

death, what if the earth loses air entirely for five minutes, what is the most common death.

I have presentation next two day concerning with my classroom. I must choose five topics but i can’t think how to choose these topics. Please! help me

Tanks for giving me an A in drama

so helpful thank you

thanks this helped with my speach at school

i need a best topic to present on that is educational to consumer science and food nutrition students. can i please be assisted

what if the earth stopped spinning pros and cons of being an artist how Gen Z affected slang why people are afraid of the dark why knowing how to play an instrument is beneficial/not needed

Here’s a controversial one: are trans, intersex and non-binary people getting the same right as every else?

I have a presentation this week I don’t understand how to find a good title please help me I’m a diploma student the speech must have more than 10 minutes

How do create presentation for famous place in Sri Lanka

i need something for my oral communication class. it must be attention grabbing and not an argument. please help

I need ideas on a slide show presentation, a kid appropiate topic.

Pls I need more ideas on self help

hi lol i like these topics but i need a trendy one like something new or like a natural phenomene or someth like that… 🙂

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How to Deliver a Memorable Presentation without Powerpoint

Yes, you CAN deliver a memorable presentation without PowerPoint!

But will you be memorable?

ABSOLUTELY.

People spend far too much time preparing PowerPoint or Prezi slides for a presentation and not enough time thinking about how to influence audiences, so today we want to give you some tips on how you can deliver a memorable presentation without PowerPoint.

Your slides are an aid to your presentation, but they’re not the presentation itself.  The more you stand side-on to an audience reading from them, the more likely you are to have zero impact.

Yes, you’ll survive.  And yes, everyone will tell you were great! (No-one will want to hurt your feelings).  But no-one will remember a thing you said.

Here’s another way.

Ask yourself what you want your audience to think, feel, do or believe?  Are you there to educate?  To motivate?  To entertain? Your presentation needs a purpose.  And the answer to this question gives your presentation its shape.

Once you’ve answered that question, the opening line of your presentation becomes obvious. For example:

“Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. My aim today is to inspire you to quit your very safe day job and pursue your dream of owning your own business.”

You’ve told them exactly why you are there and what you plan to achieve. This gives them a clear direction, and something to look forward to!

Now you’ve got their attention, take them on a journey.

Think of one, two or three reasons –  no more – why people should do just that: quit their day job and start a business.  These reasons will become the key messages you want the audience to remember.

My own three reasons for owning a PR consultancy are these – autonomy, job satisfaction and financial freedom.

So here’s your presentation so far.

“Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, my aim today is to inspire you to quit your very safe day job and pursue your dream of owning your own business. I know you’ve got a dream like this. Now there are three reasons why everyone should live life without a safety net and pursue this dream.  The first is autonomy – having complete control over your own life. Imagine that. The second is job satisfaction.  Having your clients hug you, when they adapt your ideas and it changes their lives.  I can tell you, that’s a great feeling. And the third is financial freedom.  No longer just working for wages, but tasting some profit as well.”

That’s the introduction to your presentation.  You’re sixty seconds in, no Power Point in sight.  And you have the attention of the entire room.  They’re open to the proposition you’re making, and ready to go on a journey.

Your introduction gives you the structure for your presentation.  Stay with what you’ve promised and don’t introduce any other themes.  You stated your purpose and key messages in the introduction. Now repeat those messages and elaborate on them. Use the same order as in the introduction.

Illustrate your key messages with personal stories or real industry case studies.  The more personal and emotional the better.  You won’t need Power Point, you won’t need notes and what you say will be unforgettable.

Here’s how you might unpack the first key message in your presentation.

“The first reason you should quit your very safe day job and pursue your dream of owning your own business is autonomy.  If you’re a natural boss, who has been masquerading as an employee for twenty years, business ownership is for you.  If you’re a parent who regrets missing out on limitless precious moments with your children, the autonomy of business ownership is for you.  My drive to starting my own PR firm was a combination of these.  I’ve always been the dad who purposely worked 5.00am starts in the newsroom so I could be there when my kids got home.  I’ve never been able to understand the kind of reasoning that puts children as top priority in theory, but not in practice.  I came from a small business family, and I’ve  watched them make a success of things while I’ve been toiling away at the ABC.  Not long ago, I decided it was time for a change.”

My presentations continue with the rest of my story. I highlight the autonomy I’ve enjoyed since leaving news reporting.  How I’ve lost weight and felt better. The better work/life balance I’ve had, and quality time with my children.

Then I stay with the structure, deliver my second key message and illustrate that with a personal story. Likewise for the third key message.

Finally, I summarise and round things off.  A good conclusion is simply the introduction restated. Don’t be afraid to use the same phrasing. It reaffirms your message.

“ So in conclusion my aim here today was to inspire you to quit your very safe day job and pursue your dream of owning your own business.  How did I go?  Hands up If I’ve got you thinking. Now there’s three reasons why everyone should live life without a safety net and pursue this dream.  The first is autonomy.  Having complete control over your own life – imagine that.  The second is job satisfaction.  Having your clients hug you, when they adapt your ideas and it changes their lives.  And the third is financial freedom.  No longer just working for wages, but tasting some profit as well. Thanks for having me.”

Stand back and enjoy the applause.

No power point, no notes, just a purpose and three key messages illustrated with personal examples.

You’ll notice that there is a lot of repetition.  This is what helps your audience to remember what you say. Reaffirming things helps them resonate.  Give them the same messages at the start, in the middle and at the end.

Make it emotional, tell stories and you will never be forgotten.

At Good Talent Media, we want you to be memorable in the boardroom for all of the RIGHT reasons.  You can find out more about our presentation training services here .

If you’ve got some presentation stories to share, leave us a comment.  Maybe it was a memorable presentation for all the wrong reasons.

Tony Nicholls

Founder and Director of Good Talent Media

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Scott Berkun

How to present well without slides.

If you were having an important conversation with a friend at a restaurant, would you pull out a projector and put your slides on the wall? They’d think you were crazy as would the people at other tables. Rather that look into your eyes or give full attention to your words, your friend would have their minds divided between you and the images you were showing simultaneously.

Which raises the question: why use presentation slides at all? Most important conversations you will have in your lifetime happen without slides. And ask anyone who works in media: if the power went out and they could only show your slides or broadcast your voice, they’d go with your voice. Your voice, what you say and how you say it, is the most important thing. If you listen to This American Life or The Moth , it’s clear how powerful a speaker can be with their voice alone.

Look at any list of the best speeches of all time  and you won’t find a single use of slides or other props. Of course slides and presentation software hadn’t been invented then so it’s unfair to make a direct comparison (For fun  see The Gettysburg Address as a bad Powerpoint deck ). Yet the question is easy to ask: would these speeches have been better if they were narrated over slides?

In many cases, no. You’d have to listen carefully to figure out when ideas would be better presented visually rather than with words alone, which is the secret for thinking about your own presentations: when do you truly need a visual image to express an idea? And when would it be better simply letting your voices tell the story?

Speaking without slides seems more challenging because:

• You feel naked without the familiar crutch of slides behind you
• It may require a different way to prepare
• It demands more thinking and refinement of your ideas

Speaking without slides is often better because:

• Audiences grant you more attention and authority over the room
• You have no fear of slide or A/V malfunctions
• You can never become a slave to your slides
• It forces you to clarify and improve your ideas, making you a better speaker

But slides do have some advantages, including:

• Some concepts are best expressed visually
• They can serve as a handout (but true handouts work better than slideuments )

When is it best to speak without slides?

If I’m asked to speak for 20 minutes or less I often go without slides. More than 20 minutes and the dynamics of attention are more complex and I typically use slides, though less than many speakers do. I give the same advice to others: the shorter the talk, the simpler your presentation should be.

How to prepare a slide-free presentation

In Chapter 5 of Confessions of a Public Speaker (“Do Not Eat The Microphone”) I provide a simple, well-tested method for preparing talks of any kind.  In short it looks like this:

• Take a strong position in the title
• Think carefully about your specific audience (why are they here? what do they already know?)
• Make your 4 or 5 major points concisely (from a draft outline of 10 or 12 points)
• Practice making your points without a single slide.
• Revise #3 and repeat #4 until done.

This approach works with or without slides, but in all cases it forces you to develop your ideas into a solid outline and practice delivering it before you’d even consider making a slide . If you want to go entirely without slides, you’re already prepared for that. And if you decide as you revise that you need slides to best make your points, then add them, but only after you’ve proven their necessity by trying to present without them.

If you want your ideas to take center stage, the slides should come late in the process so that they are used only to support what you’re saying, rather than the other way around. Even if you are a visual thinker and need something to look at to develop your ideas, develop your ideas and rehearse assuming the slide deck is scaffolding you will remove . Don’t fall into the trap of polishing your slides and tweaking fonts when you should be revising your thoughts and practicing how you’re going to express them.

Given a choice between a great talk with lousy slides, and a lousy talk with great slides, what do you think most audiences would choose? Prepare accordingly.

What do you put on the screen if presenting at a slide-dominant event?

I simply put together a slide with my name, the title of the talk and the basic contact information I want to provide. There’s an argument that only having a single slide does far more to make you accessible to an audience interested in your work as the way to contact you is visible the entire time you’re speaking, instead of just at the end. Here are two examples from two different events:

How do you get over the fear of forgetting something?

Many speakers use slides to mitigate fear. Slides used for this reason often come at the audience’s expense. It’s common to see speakers reading their own slides, or facing their slides as they present, clear signs they made their slides first, rather than constructing the presentation first and using slides to support their thoughts. Slides should be for the audience, not for you.

If you work hard to have clear points, and you practice it’s unlikely you’ll forget anything important. Even if you did forget something, only you will know. Since there are no slides, as the speaker only you know what you planned to say. You could skip an entire point or express it in a completely different way than you intended and no one will know but you.  Slides can lock you in and if you are a true expert on the subject you’re speaking about you may find advantages in flexibility.

The notecard

When I speak without slides I usually have one small piece of paper listing my 5 main points. For my recent keynote at Warm Gun 2013 on The Dangers of Faith in Data , here’s what I brought with me on stage:

This notecard is short and simple. Since I’ve thought hard about this topic and have practiced the talk, all that I need the notecard to do is remind me of the next point, and the overall structure. I cheated on #5 as it has sub-bullets, but I simply found while practicing I couldn’t recall all three, so I wrote them down. Churchill and some other famous speakers used similar lightweight systems for their speeches.

You can see the notecard on the conveniently transparent lectern:

What about the handout problem?

If I prepare my talk as described above, it’s easy to write up a blog post with the same structure.

Here’s the blog post, titled The Dangers of Faith In Data , which I wrote in less than an hour while the ideas were still fresh in my mind.

Watch the actual talk based on the above

Now that you know how I prepared and practiced, you can watch the actual talk and judge for yourself. You’ll see me look down at the notecard,  but it’s typically while I’m silent and trying to let the audience digest what I just said, while I collect myself to lead into the next thought.

Free Checklist For Great Talks (with or without slides)

You can download a handy, comprehensive, printable checklist for giving great presentations here  (PDF) based on the bestseller  Confessions of a Public Speaker .

13 Responses to “How to present well without slides”

In the case of scientific seminar talks given to expert audiences, the slides are used to show actual data. So we have no choice but to use slides and make them the focus of the presentation. Although there is a special form of slideless presentation called a “chalk talk”, which entails explaining scientific shit using only a chalkboard, and usually with intensive audience participation: ongoing chiming in with questions, comments, and criticisms. The idea is that a chalk talk reveals whether someone can think on their feet without the crutch of slides, and they are used as an interviewing tool.

I love this! I’ve been doing this for years successfully. Even won an award. I’m glad I’m not alone!

For longer talks (more than 15 minutes) I like to have LOTS of notes when I speak, mostly to keep from getting ahead of myself; I also like to have those notes large enough to read from 10 feet away, so I can move around. “Presenter mode” with the notes section just doesn’t cut it, so I carry two laptops and write two sets of slides. One set is my speaking notes: very dense, lots of words, 100% inappropriate for showing to anyone but myself. The other set is what I show the audience: pictures, graphs, or just a few words to reinforce my point; often these slides will be repeated multiple times in a row so even though I’m clicking through them at a pretty fast clip, the audience sees a new slide only every 1-3 minutes.

The “secret” is to have exactly the same number of slides in each deck, and to have two receivers listening to a single “clicker.” I get as many notes as I want, in nice big fonts with plenty of color; the audience gets a very different “show”; everyone is happy.

Thanks for sharing your method – I hadn’t heard of anyone who makes two sets of slides before.

I’ve found that from speaking so often and experimenting that the less materials I depend on while I’m speaking, the more comfortable I am, not less. But everyone is different of course.

Yes, absolutely. Back when I was doing full-time technical training I practically knew the material by heart. These days, however, I give maybe five presentations a year, only two of which are usually the same talk. Some I’ve done before but often as long as a year ago (and by then I’ve usually updated the material), but the rest are new “this time” and will likely never be given again. Also, most of my “presentations” are actually half-day tutorials, which means about three hours worth of material; I simply can’t remember that much unless I’m teaching it several times per month.

My formal presentations always include slides because I’m talking about a visual subject, but it is ALL visual: no text, and certainly no bullet points (my personal pet peeve). It’s nice to know that I can give a presentation without them too, because any day I can literally be stopped in the hallway and told that there’s a tour group coming through and I need to give a talk *now*. It took me a while to get to that place, but knowing your subject inside and out and having a crazy passion about it helps.

I have to give props to Toastmasters too. I used to have a deathly fear of public speaking, but that environment really helped. Plus, it was all talk, no slides!

Makes sense to me. There are certainly plenty of situations where slides are essential. An artist talking about their work is one of many.

[…] E început de an, deci probabil toți discutăm o strategie, un buget sau planuri pentru 2014. Ce facem când trebuie să prezentăm ceva fără ajutorul unui suport grafic? Scott Berkun, autorul Confesiunile unui vorbitor public ne oferă câteva sfaturi pentru prezentări memorabile. […]

[…] How To Present Well Without Slides […]

[…] Interesting post by Scott Berkun on not using a presentation tool. […]

[…] Secret: Presentation expert Scott Berkun writes out his 3-5 main points on an index card and keeps it in his back pocket when he speaks. […]

[…] How to present well without slides (by Scott Berkun) […]

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200 Topics for 5-Minute Presentations

As a presenter, having a variety of brief yet captivating topics is key to engaging your audience effectively. Explore these 200 topics for 5-Minute Presentations to ensure your next speaking engagement is both dynamic and memorable!

• The Importance of Time Management Skills
• The Impact of Social Media on Society
• The Benefits of Reading Daily
• How to Cultivate Healthy Eating Habits
• The Significance of Renewable Energy
• The Psychology behind Procrastination
• The Role of Technology in Education
• The Art of Public Speaking
• The History of the Internet
• The Effects of Globalization
• The Power of Positive Thinking
• Climate Change and Its Consequences
• The Evolution of Artificial Intelligence
• Overcoming the Fear of Failure
• The Basics of Personal Finance
• The Importance of Work-Life Balance
• The Future of Telecommunication
• The Rise of Veganism
• The Significance of Cultural Diversity
• Understanding Body Language
• The Influence of Music on Mood
• The Ethics of Genetic Engineering
• The Growth of E-commerce
• The Benefits of Yoga and Meditation
• The Impact of Tourism on Local Communities
• The Role of Women in History
• The Dangers of Texting and Driving
• The Process of Goal Setting
• The Value of Teamwork
• The Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle
• The Science behind Sleep
• The Truth about Multitasking
• Self-Defense Basics Everyone Should Know
• The Power of Gratitude
• The Effects of Stress on Health
• The Principles of Minimalism
• The History of Olympic Games
• The Importance of Conserving Water
• The Theory of Multiple Intelligences
• The Impact of Fast Fashion
• The Role of Parents in Child Development
• The Rising Trend of Digital Detox
• The Significance of the Rosetta Stone
• The Process of Making Coffee
• The Intergenerational Gap in Technology Use
• The Fascinating World of Bees
• The Essentials of Cybersecurity
• The Benefits of Learning a Second Language
• The Mysteries of the Deep Sea
• The Pros and Cons of Freelancing
• The Contributions of Leonardo da Vinci
• The Importance of Civic Engagement
• The History of Comic Books
• The Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate
• The Basics of Origami
• The Psychological Effects of Social Isolation
• The Influence of Cartoons on Children
• The Basics of Investing in Stocks
• The Beauty of Haiku Poetry
• The Science of Happiness
• The Environmental Impact of Plastic Bags
• The Advantages of Remote Work
• The Tradition of Afternoon Tea
• The Potential of 3D Printing
• The History of Morse Code
• The Foundations of Democracy
• The Cultural Significance of Tattoos
• The Secrets of Ancient Egyptian Pyramids
• The Impact of Drones on Privacy and Security
• The Art of Japanese Garden Design
• The Challenge of Antibiotic Resistance
• The Wonders of the Aurora Borealis
• The History of Chess
• The Basics of Calligraphy
• The Role of Antibodies in Immunity
• The Phenomenon of Urban Exploration
• The Value of Good Listening Skills
• The Implications of Virtual Reality
• The Benefits of Community Gardens
• The Life and Legacy of Nelson Mandela
• The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright
• The History of the English Language
• The Mystery of Dark Matter
• The Significance of the Great Wall of China
• The Rise of Subscription Box Services
• The Future of Drones in Delivery Services
• The Evolution of Video Games
• The Ethical Dilemmas of Autonomous Vehicles
• The Healing Power of Pets
• The Origins of Common Superstitions
• The Significance of the Human Genome Project
• The Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
• The Controversy Surrounding Designer Babies
• The Importance of Bees in Pollination
• The Future of Space Exploration
• The Role of Microbes in Human Health
• The Art and Science of Photography
• The Phenomenon of Tidal Waves and Tsunamis
• The Importance of Coral Reefs
• The History of Halloween
• The Future of Smart Homes
• The Legacy of Ancient Rome
• The Science of Forensic Analysis
• The Impact of Overfishing on Marine Life
• The Benefits and Challenges of Solar Energy
• The Key to Effective Communication
• The Importance of Biodiversity
• The Ethics of Animal Testing
• The Influence of Advertising on Consumer Behavior
• The Legacy of Steve Jobs and Apple
• The Dangers of Artificial Sweeteners
• The Relevance of the United Nations Today
• The Rise of Augmented Reality
• The Fascination with True Crime Stories
• The Basics of Gardening
• The Psychological Impact of Color
• The Architecture of Antoni Gaudi
• The Changing Landscape of News Media
• The Value of Historical Fiction
• The Potential of Hydroponic Farming
• The Principles of Sustainable Living
• The Role of Coding in Modern Education
• The Benefits of Green Spaces in Urban Areas
• The Significance of the Silk Road
• The Art of Making Sourdough Bread
• The Contributions of Sir Isaac Newton
• The Rise of Influencer Marketing
• The Impact of Noise Pollution
• The Power of Mindfulness
• The Secrets of Memory Champions
• The History of Sudoku
• The Cause and Effect of Urban Sprawl
• The Ethics of Cloning
• The Phenomenon of Bioluminescence
• The Science Behind Fireworks
• The Role of Blockchain in Cybersecurity
• The Influence of Greek Mythology on Modern Culture
• The Essentials of Conflict Resolution
• The Importance of Voting in Democracies
• The Decline of Bee Populations and Its Impact
• The Basics of Sustainable Fashion
• The Complications of Language Translation
• The History of Jazz Music
• The Use of Drones in Agriculture
• The Debate Over Genetically Modified Foods
• The Cultural Impact of Anime and Manga
• The Science of Body Language
• The Potential of Virtual Assistants
• The Importance of Aquifers
• The Practice of Mindful Eating
• The Basics of Creating an App
• The Significance of Dream Interpretation
• The Rise of Plant-Based Diets
• The Future of Nanotechnology
• The Ethics of Deepfake Technology
• The Legacy of the Wright Brothers
• The Power of Journaling for Mental Health
• The Hidden World of Caves
• The Value of Internships for Students
• The Beauty of Classical Music
• The Importance of Sun Protection
• The Science of Color Psychology
• The Influence of Fairy Tales on Childhood
• The Basics of Astrophotography
• The Evolution of Language
• The Challenge of Ocean Acidification
• The Power of Compound Interest
• The Importance of Digital Literacy
• The Life Cycle of Stars
• The Role of NGOs in Global Issues
• The Dangers of Concussions in Sports
• The Wonders of the Human Brain
• The History of Cryptography
• The World of Competitive Gaming (Esports)
• The Benefits of Walkable Cities
• The Basics of Wine Tasting
• The Cultural Significance of Fashion
• The Psychology behind Consumer Choices
• The Importance of Preserving Endangered Languages
• The Role of Exercise in Mental Health
• The Fight Against Deforestation
• The Significance of the Statue of Liberty
• The Science of Taste
• The Future of Biomedical Engineering
• The Exploration of Mars
• The Power of Peer Pressure
• The History of the Nobel Prize
• The Ethical Implications of AI
• The Basics of Birdwatching
• The Art of Storytelling in Film
• The Importance of Cross-Cultural Communication
• The Principles of Feng Shui
• The Health Effects of Air Pollution
• The Benefits of High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
• The Rise of Mobile Payment Systems
• The Reliability of Eye Witness Testimony
• The Art of Japanese Tea Ceremony
• The Importance of Sleep Hygiene
• The Wonders of Quantum Physics
• The Significance of the Panama Canal

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Discover over 60 engaging 5-minute presentation topics

Get your team on prezi – watch this on demand video.

Anete Ezera August 21, 2023

Delivering impactful presentations doesn’t always require a marathon of speaking. In fact, condensing your message into a succinct 5-minute presentation can be just as powerful. In this article, we’ll explore a 5-minute presentation topics list that captivate your audience’s attention, spark their curiosity, and leave a lasting impression. Whether looking for 5-minute presentation topics for college students, topics for professionals, or simply looking for a suitable subject to share insights, these categorized topics offer a concise platform to convey your message effectively.

Exploring a variety of engaging 5-minute presentation topics

Personal growth and well-being.

• The Power of Positivity: How cultivating a positive mindset impacts your daily life.
• The Journey of Mindfulness: Navigating the benefits of mindfulness and meditation.
• Overcoming Procrastination: Techniques to boost productivity and break the habit.
• The Science of Happiness: Unraveling the psychology behind happiness.
• Cultivating Resilience: Techniques to build resilience and bounce back from setbacks.
• Mastering Mindful Breathing: Introducing the art of mindful breathing to alleviate stress.

Innovations and sustainability

• The Rise of Renewable Energy: How sustainable resources are shaping our future.
• Sustainable Fashion Choices: Shedding light on the environmental impact of clothing choices.
• Impact of Microplastics: Raising awareness about microplastics’ effects on ecosystems and health.
• Unveiling Virtual Reality: A brief overview of the transformative potential of VR technology.
• The Future of Mobility: Discussing innovations in transportation, from electric vehicles to autonomous driving.
• Introduction to Blockchain: Simplifying the concept of blockchain and its applications.

Communication and personal development

• The Art of Storytelling: Why stories resonate deeply and influence perceptions.
• Art of Active Listening: Exploring the significance of active listening in communication.
• Effective Public Speaking: Tips to enhance speaking skills in various settings.
• Understanding Body Language: Decoding nonverbal cues in effective communication.
• Cultivating a Growth Mindset: Insights into the power of a growth mindset.
• Unconventional Careers: Exploring exciting career paths that defy traditional norms.

Technology and insights

• Digital Privacy Concerns: Exploring the implications of online data security.
• The Impact of Social Media: Unveiling its effects on mental health and society.
• Cybersecurity Essentials: Safeguarding personal data in the digital age.
• Introduction to Cryptocurrency: Simplifying the complex world of cryptocurrency.
• Exploring Genetic Engineering: A concise overview of genetic engineering’s science and ethics.
• The Impact of Artificial Intelligence: Delving into AI’s transformative potential on industries and life.
• The Future of Work: Exploring how technology is reshaping the workplace.

Practical skills and techniques

• Tackling Time Management: Demonstrating efficient strategies for organizing your day.
• Language Learning Hacks: Quick strategies to accelerate language learning.
• Effective Time Blocking: Techniques for maximizing productivity through structured time management.
• The Magic of Minimalism: Exploring the benefits of decluttering and simplifying life.
• Nutrition Hacks: Quick insights into making healthier food choices.
• The Art of Negotiation: Tips for successful negotiation in personal and professional settings.
• Crisis Communication: Strategies for effective communication during challenging times.

Creativity and exploration

• Unlocking Innovative Solutions: Techniques to foster creative thinking and problem-solving.
• Exploring Astronomy: A brief journey through the universe’s wonders and celestial bodies.
• The Art of Photography: Unveiling the secrets to capturing captivating and meaningful images.
• Music Therapy: How music impacts emotions and well-being, and its potential for healing.
• The World of Origami: Discovering the ancient art of paper folding and its therapeutic benefits.
• Inspiring Travel Destinations: Showcasing unique places that offer enriching travel experiences.
• Exploring Local Cuisine: A tantalizing exploration of regional dishes and their cultural significance.
• The Beauty of Calligraphy: A glimpse into the world of elegant and expressive handwriting.

Environmental awareness and conservation

• The Importance of Biodiversity: Exploring the significance of diverse ecosystems and their role in sustaining life.
• Climate Change Solutions: Highlighting actionable steps individuals and communities can take to combat climate change.
• Ocean Conservation: Shedding light on the challenges facing marine ecosystems and the need for preservation.
• Green Initiatives in Cities: Showcasing innovative urban projects that prioritize sustainability and green spaces.
• Wildlife Protection Efforts: Discussing the importance of safeguarding endangered species and their habitats.
• Upcycling and Repurposing: Creative ways to reduce waste and repurpose materials for a more sustainable lifestyle.
• Eco-Friendly Gardening: Tips for cultivating gardens that support local biodiversity and minimize environmental impact.
• Food Waste Reduction: Strategies to minimize food waste and contribute to a more sustainable food system.

Cultural insights and diversity

• Cultural Traditions Around the World: Exploring unique customs, festivals, and rituals from different cultures.
• Language Diversity: Showcasing the richness of languages spoken globally and their importance in preserving heritage.
• Cross-Cultural Communication: Insights into effective communication across diverse cultural backgrounds.
• Global Cuisines: A culinary journey through the flavors and dishes that define different regions.
• Traditional Arts and Crafts: Celebrating the craftsmanship and artistic expressions of various cultures.
• Celebrating Diversity: Embracing the value of inclusivity and the benefits of diverse perspectives.
• Traveling Responsibly: Tips for respectful and culturally sensitive travel experiences.
• International Etiquette: Navigating cultural norms and customs when interacting with people from different backgrounds.

Health and wellness

• The Benefits of Regular Exercise: Exploring the positive impacts of physical activity on overall well-being.
• Mind-Body Connection: Unveiling the link between mental health and physical well-being.
• Balanced Nutrition for Optimal Health: Tips for making nutritious food choices that support wellness.
• Stress Management Techniques: Strategies to cope with stress and maintain mental and emotional balance.
• Importance of Hydration: Highlighting the role of proper hydration in maintaining good health.
• Quality Sleep Habits: Discussing the significance of quality sleep and tips for improving sleep patterns.
• Mental Health Awareness: Shedding light on the importance of understanding and supporting mental health.
• Holistic Approaches to Wellness: Exploring holistic practices that address mind, body, and spirit.

Historical perspectives

• Influential Women in History: Celebrating the accomplishments and contributions of remarkable women.
• Turning Points in History: Exploring pivotal moments that shaped the course of human history.
• Ancient Civilizations: A glimpse into the achievements and legacies of civilizations from the past.
• Revolutionary Inventions: Unveiling inventions that revolutionized industries and daily life.
• World-Changing Events: Discussing events that had a profound impact on societies and cultures.
• Great Leaders Throughout Time: Highlighting the leadership styles and achievements of notable figures.
• Cultural Renaissance Periods: Exploring periods of cultural revival and artistic innovation.
• Lessons from History: Extracting valuable lessons and insights from historical events and figures.

With these categories and their respective examples, you have a comprehensive palette of engaging 5-minute presentation topics catering to various interests and purposes. Whether you’re sparking conversations, sharing insights, or simply enhancing your presentation skills, these topics offer a platform for concise and impactful communication.

For further inspiration on crafting compelling topics, explore Prezi’s comprehensive guide on good presentation topics and presentation night ideas .

Elevating your short-form presentation skills

Creating and delivering a compelling 5-minute presentation requires a strategic approach to ensure your message is concise, engaging, and impactful. Here are some best practices to keep in mind:

Define a clear message

Start by defining the core message or main takeaway you want your audience to remember. Keep it focused and concise to ensure your presentation remains on track.

Structure with purpose

Organize your presentation with a clear structure: introduction, main points, and conclusion. Each section should flow logically and contribute to the overall message.

Learn more about how to effectively structure your presentation by watching the following video:

Engaging opening

Begin with an attention-grabbing opening that hooks your audience and sets the tone for the rest of your presentation. This could be a surprising fact, a thought-provoking question, or a captivating anecdote.

Concise content

Keep your content concise and to the point. Avoid information overload and focus on the most relevant and impactful details that support your main message.

Visual aids

Use visuals sparingly to complement your spoken words. Visual aids should be simple, relevant, and easy to understand. They should enhance your message, not distract from it.

Rehearse your presentation multiple times to become comfortable with the content and timing. Practice helps you refine your delivery and identify areas for improvement.

Time management

Keep a close eye on your time during practice and the actual presentation. Aim to stay within the 5-minute limit to ensure your message is delivered effectively.

Engaging delivery

Maintain good eye contact, use appropriate gestures, and vary your vocal tone to keep your audience engaged. A confident and enthusiastic delivery enhances your message’s impact.

Discover more about engaging delivery by mastering the art of storytelling :

Relevance and depth

Prioritize quality over quantity. Instead of covering numerous points superficially, delve deeper into a few key ideas to provide valuable insights.

Transitions

Use smooth transitions between sections to guide your audience through your presentation. These transitions create a seamless flow that keeps listeners engaged.

Call to action

Conclude your presentation with a clear call to action that aligns with your main message. Encourage your audience to take a specific action or reflect on what they’ve learned.

Choose a relevant topic

Perhaps most importantly, select a topic that is relevant to your audience’s interests, needs, and preferences. Make sure it aligns with the purpose of your presentation and resonates with your listeners. For example, if you’re preparing for an interview, be sure to research 5-minute interview presentation topics. Here are a few examples; 

• My Professional Journey: Share your career path, highlighting key experiences, and accomplishments, and how they align with the role you’re interviewing for. 
• Strategic Problem-Solving: Present a real-world challenge you’ve encountered and walk through the steps you took to analyze, strategize, and find a solution. 
• Innovative Ideas for Company Growth: Propose innovative strategies or initiatives that could drive growth, improve efficiency, or enhance the company’s offerings. 
• Market Trends and Insights: Present your analysis of current market trends, including opportunities and challenges, and discuss how your insights could benefit the company. 
• Effective Team Leadership: Describe a situation where you successfully led a team to achieve a common goal, emphasizing your leadership style, communication, and conflict-resolution skills.

Discover more presentation ideas that’ll help you craft a compelling presentation:

Using these topics for 5 minute presentations and delivering them effectively 

Crafting and delivering a 5 minute presentation requires finesse in both content creation and delivery. By selecting a focused topic, structuring your presentation effectively, and practicing your delivery, you can make the most of these brief but effective moments in the spotlight. The diverse array of the best 5 minute presentation topics showcased here offers a launchpad for your creative expression, sparking engaging conversations and leaving a lasting impression on your audience. Remember, it’s not about the duration—it’s about the quality and resonance of your message. To create an attention-grabbing presentation that moves your audience, try Prezi today.

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Home Blog Presentation Ideas How to Create a 5 Minutes Presentation

How to Create a 5 Minutes Presentation

Giving a 40-60-minute speech isn’t a synonym for success. Sticking to shorter presentation formats can increase the impact of large-format events. Among its many advantages, allowing multiple speakers to give their insights rises above everything. Still, presenters often struggle to be concise, as they aim to disclose as much content as possible, ending up overdoing the allotted time or delivering rushed-up presentations.

In this article, we’ll share our experience on how to master the art of 3-5 minute presentations, keeping your speech concise while using powerful graphics to connect with the audience.

Table of Contents

What is a 5 Minutes Presentation?

What are the requirements of 5 minutes presentations, how many slides for a 5 minute presentation, 5 minute presentation ideas, how to make a 5 minute presentation, common mistakes to avoid in 5-minute presentations, recommended templates for 5 minute presentations, final words.

A 5-minute presentation is a short talk designed to convey a specific message, idea, information, or argument within a limited timeframe, between three to five minutes – the latter being the average duration. Due to the brevity, these presentations require careful planning and preparation to ensure the content is concise, focused, and impactful. 

We can define a five-minute presentation’s must-have(s) in seven different categories.

Objective Definition

The purpose of your talk has to be clear from the presentation planning phase. This implies acknowledging whether you intend to inform, persuade, inspire, or instruct your audience on a given topic.

On this behalf, we made a list of frameworks to help you pinpoint the core objective of your presentation:

• SPIN (Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-payoff): Intended for sales strategy or customer-driven presentations. The focus is set on understanding the audience’s situation, presenting the problems, implications, and potential benefits of a proposed solution.
• AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action): The AIDA framework is extremely popular in marketing campaigns and sales presentations. You can learn more about this approach for engaging presentations by checking our guide on the AIDA model .
• SCQA (Situation, Complication, Question, Answer): Intended for problem-solving meetings and business presentations. The SCQA framework establishes a context and its challenges, raises a question, and provides solutions for it.
• Minto Pyramid Principle: This unconventional approach is used for business presentations and reports, and was developed by Barbara Minto at McKinsey & Company in the 1970s . We start by stating the conclusion or core recommendation, then organize the information that supports your statement in a logical flow. By implementing this approach, you inspire the audience to think critically about the presented scenario, while discussing complex ideas in an easier-to-digest format due to its hierarchical organization of ideas.
• Monroe’s Motivated Sequence: A framework with a focus on persuasive presentations. It is structured by five pillars recognized by its author, Alan H. Monroe : Attention, Need, Satisfaction, Visualization, and Action. 

Concise Content

“How many words in a 5-minute speech” is a commonly asked question by beginner presenters. The average range for seasoned speakers is 130-150 words per minute in a fluent speech, and depending on the topic, that can go slower (technical-based presentations) or faster (motivational presentations, like the ones delivered by Tony Robbins ). 

Therefore, for a 5-minute speech, you might aim for:

• At 130 words per minute: 130×5=650 words
• At 150 words per minute: 150×5=750 words

That calculation can help you curate the presentation script for your speech . In general lines, our expertise tells us that selecting a topic that can be covered within 5 minutes is roughly 60% of the job. After effectively selecting a topic, you must restrict the content to 2-3 main points to remain within the time limit and end your presentation in style. 

Presentation Structure

In more laid-back scenarios, presentations can lean toward a conversational mode rather than a strict agenda. Still, we ought to ensure the presentation structure contains an Introduction, a Body, and a Conclusion. 

The Introduction helps us familiarize the audience with what’s expected out of your presentation. Additionally, it is our chance to make a good first impression . Knowing how to start your presentation guarantees audience engagement from the initial moments of your delivery.

Moving to the Body, this is where facts are laid out and backed up using evidence or examples to support your view. Visual aids can contribute to minimizing the need for lengthy text walls. 

Finally, the Conclusion summarizes the key takeaways and, when applicable, brings a call to action in the format of thought-provoking statements, data shared, an irresistible offer, and plenty of other scenarios.

Audience Engagement

Connecting with the audience is vital, especially in short formats like Pecha Kucha presentations . Your speech pace and body language are significant factors that contribute to how the audience perceives your interest in their time. 

Aim for a relaxed but confident attitude, as if you were passionately talking about a topic with a group of acquaintances. This reinforces your authority in the topic you deliver, as being anxious or rushing through the presentation only speaks of a lack of interest.

Apply professional presentation techniques like storytelling for presentations or harnessing the power of visual communication strategies to make your message memorable. 

Audience Acknowledgement

Tailoring your presentation for the audience’s interest is the first step every presenter must take to guarantee success, especially if we’re another speaker in large-scale events. In some niches, like academic presentations, it is vital as some of the audience may not feel connected with your research topic. 

Based on information gathered from our customer’s feedback, a good recipe to connect with your audience is to work with a sales approach in mind and create your “ideal audience persona.” This would be your attendee who’s 100% connected with what you intend to share. Compare and contrast demographics with the public you know will attend, and find the common points and where you need to adjust your expectations to meet the audience’s interest.

If the event format allows for it, be ready to present questions at the end of your presentation that may drive the interest of a Q&A session.

Visual Aids

Slides featuring infographics , dashboards , or storytelling-based illustrations help to attract the spectator’s interest and increase the retention rate, as research proves it’s easier to recall pictures than words . As previously mentioned, leveraging graphics helps us reduce our slides’ word count.

Other presentation aids , like videos, audio, and even sensory elements such as smells, can drive a broad range of emotional responses within the audience. It’s worth exploiting this route if your presentation aims to persuade or motivate the spectators. 

Time Management

Last but not least, time management is an etiquette rule of respect for fellow presenters. Your content has to fit within the 5-minute limit, including transition times and variations in your delivery speed.

A good presenter is an adaptable one. Be ready to adjust your speech on the fly if you find yourself running short or long on time or if the audience’s interest drives the conversation briefly away from your intended destination.

Defining how many slides is a 5 minute presentation isn’t an automatic task. Some topics can be quickly resolved following the premises of the 1-2-3 rule for presentations, applying:

• One main message: Your presentation should center around a single, clear main message or idea. This ensures focus and helps your audience grasp the core of your presentation without getting lost in details. 
• Two supporting points: Support your main message with two strong, relevant points or arguments. This structure helps provide depth to your presentation without overwhelming your audience with too much information. 
• Three examples or pieces of evidence: For each supporting point, provide three examples, pieces of evidence, or data points to substantiate your arguments. This reinforces your message and helps in making your case more convincing.

In short, implementing this practice can result in a range between 5 and 10 slides in your 5-minute presentation. More complex topics, like medical presentations or scientific conferences, cannot be summarized easily, as graphs require one full slide for accurate data visualization. In this case, weigh the critical points your presentation must cover, assign a maximum of 3 slides per crucial point, and avoid filler content.

If you need a quick method to create a 5 minutes presentation, check out our  AI presentation maker . A tool in which you add the topic, curate the outline, select a design, and let AI do the work for you.

Googling around you can come across lists with 200, 60, 40, and plenty other title combinations referring to 5 minute presentation ideas. Despite it being a good starter to brainstorm potential topics or angles for your presentation, we shall introduce our method to implement AI tools to come up with 5 minute presentation topics. The following instructions apply to ChatGPT , Gemini (Bard) or Bing.

• Consider the niche in which you want to deliver a 5 minute presentation. 
• Gather the main keywords around the topic you intend to present. For example, if you want to deliver a presentation about artificial intelligence, the following keywords may suit your needs as well: AI, artificial intelligence chatbot, types of artificial intelligence, artificial intelligence solutions, what is artificial intelligence.
• Open your AI tool of preference and write the following prompt: “Give me a list of 20 5-minute presentation ideas in the IT niche that fit these keywords: AI, artificial intelligence chatbot, types of artificial intelligence, artificial intelligence solutions, what is artificial intelligence.”

And this is the list generated by ChatGPT-4

• Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Basics of AI, its history, and evolution.
• Exploring AI Technologies: A dive into machine learning, neural networks, and deep learning.
• Types of Artificial Intelligence: From narrow (or weak) AI to general (or strong) AI, and superintelligence.
• AI Chatbots: Revolutionizing Customer Service: How chatbots are changing the customer service landscape across industries.
• Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: Discussing AI solutions for diagnostics, treatment recommendations, and patient care.
• The Role of AI in Autonomous Vehicles: Examining how AI technologies power self-driving cars.
• Ethical Considerations in AI: The moral implications of AI in decision-making and privacy concerns.
• AI in Cybersecurity: Using artificial intelligence to predict, detect, and respond to cyber threats.
• The Impact of AI on Job Markets: How AI is reshaping employment opportunities and the workforce.
• Machine Learning Algorithms Explained: An overview of popular algorithms and their applications in AI.
• AI and Big Data: How AI algorithms process and analyze large datasets to extract meaningful insights.
• Natural Language Processing (NLP) in AI: Understanding how AI interprets, understands, and generates human language.
• AI in Finance: The use of artificial intelligence in fraud detection, algorithmic trading, and personalized banking.
• Artificial Intelligence for Environmental Sustainability: Exploring AI solutions for climate change, conservation, and sustainable energy.
• AI and Robotics: How AI is applied in robotics for automation, exploration, and manufacturing.
• Deep Learning and Neural Networks: An introduction to the architecture of neural networks and their significance in AI.
• Implementing AI Solutions in Small Businesses: Practical AI applications for improving efficiency and productivity in SMEs.
• The Future of AI: Predictions and emerging trends in artificial intelligence technologies.
• AI in Education: Personalized learning, automated grading, and AI’s role in educational institutions.
• Ethics and Bias in AI: Addressing the challenges of bias in AI algorithms and ensuring ethical AI development.

In this section, we will apply the explained suggestions earlier, approaching a real use case of a motivational speaker addressing an audience of marketing professionals. The speaker has to deliver a 5 minute presentation for a large onsite event.

Defining the Objective & Core Message

Our presenter is faced with the challenge of highlighting the importance of data analysis in marketing these days, and why marketing professionals should be adaptable to the latest trends. Therefore, using Minto’s Pyramid Principle, the presenter who already knows the answer – that hunch-based decisions need to be turned into data-driven decisions – plans how to convey the importance of that statement into the presentation’s flow.

Then, a powerful hook comes to mind on how to start this presentation: “Today, I want to share why embracing change isn’t just necessary; it’s our most powerful tool for growth in the marketing world.” Since that statement can sound somewhat vague, the presenter opts for a quote to impact the audience. A definition of what Social Listening is, indicating the connection between data and consumer behavior analysis.

Concise Content Tailored for the Audience

Research or inquire about the audience’s background in marketing. Are they novices or seasoned professionals? What challenges are they facing? Use this information to shape your presentation content.

In our presenter’s case, the event’s organizer gave some basic information about the demographics and audience’s background. Returning to the “ideal audience persona” concept, this presenter’s audience consists of mid-level marketing professionals facing rapid industry changes. Some already have experience working with data analytics but couldn’t extract the full potential. Therefore, rather than losing time with basics, the presenter prepares a compelling dashboard slide showing metrics of how working with data helped a client grow its revenue rate by 19% in three months.

The time limit for this presentation is 6 minutes in total, as a 1-minute Q&A session is contemplated. Therefore, using our word-per-minute calculation, the presenter opts for a 5 minute speech word count of 600 words, as it’s best to impact with powerful visuals and data storytelling rather than to rush the speech. As the recommended slide deck length for this presentation format is between 5 and 10 slides, the presenter opts for 3 extra slides, totaling 13 slides, since the two main points require 2-3 slides each.

The Introduction for this presentation is a powerful statement, as we mentioned above, taking one full minute to deliver the phrase and share the information that backs up such a statement.

The Body will take 3 minutes to be presented, and it shall cover a three-tier structure with the following premises:

• Challenge: “The digital marketing landscape is evolving faster than ever before, leaving many behind.”
• Strategy: “Yet, some marketers are thriving by adopting agile methodologies and data-driven strategies.”
• Success Story: “Take, for example, a small business that doubled its online engagement and grew its revenue rate by 19% in three months just by simply listening to its audience through social media analytics.”

The Conclusion takes another minute, using a powerful slide to leave a lasting thought that the audience can dwell on.

As the format is brief, the presenter will use powerful graphics to boost audience engagement. Additionally, there’s a short exercise at the beginning of the presentation where the speaker promptly says: “Turn to the person next to you and share one change you’ve embraced in your marketing strategy this year that made a difference.” This is a fine example of how to implement interactive presentation techniques to boost audience engagement.

Leveraging this kind of strategy helps the audience to connect with the importance of making changes in the marketing strategy of their work environments, but not just any change, something that’s measurable and has a significant impact. The presenter expects that not many members can successfully relate to change with results due to their inexperience in marketing data analytics – a piece of information disclosed by the event’s organizer – so the remaining of the presentation consists of ‘wowing’ the audience on the importance of data and how to measure that impact to stay tuned with the latest trends.

Although it seems an easy-to-adapt format, presenters working under 5-minute presentation can face some challenges that affect the overall outcome of their presentation delivery. Most of these presentation mistakes apply to any kind of presentation. In particular, we consider the following list as beginner mistakes we can easily prevent.

• Using Jargon or Complex Language: This can alienate your audience. Use clear, accessible language.
• Reading from Slides: This is literally “death by PowerPoint.” Use slides as a visual aid, not a script.
• Overuse of Animations or Transitions: While they can be engaging, too many can be distracting and appear unprofessional.

Check the following slide decks and PPT templates to maximize your performance in 3-5 minute presentations.

1. 5 Minute Business Marketing Presentation Template

Create eye-catching marketing presentations by using this best PPT template with a clean layout and wavy backgrounds. The information can be structured around the included icons, maximizing the retention rate by giving an area to focus on just the core information to be disclosed.

Use This Template

2. Business Executive 5-Minute Presentation Template

Geared toward business presentations, this slide deck layout contains cutting-edge graphics that grab your audience’s interest. It can be easily customized to speak about your company’s growth process, reach out to potential investors, or even for non-business topics.

3. Modern Hexagon 5-Minute Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template

Another clean layout template with vivid colors to highlight the information shared. This professional PPT slide deck helps us discuss data or compare features between competitor products in the blink of an eye. The color palette uses gradients to transition between sections smoothly.

4. Kaleidoscope 5-Minute Company Profile PowerPoint Template

Although it is intended for company profiles or company overview presentations, this highly visual PPT template can be repurposed for many niches. Due to its limited-space placeholder text areas, the 5 minute speech word count can be significantly reduced, aiming for concise content.

5. Academic 5-Minute Presentation Template

An ideal template for presenting thesis dissertations, this slide deck features designs to introduce the scope of our research, problem statement, methodology used, outcomes, and their significance while preserving a cohesive aesthetic.

As we can see, concise presentation formats like the 5 minute presentation have their own challenges when we strive for quality. Consider rehearsing your presentation multiple times, opting for the slideshow mode , to spot any areas where you can trim the speech or change text for graphics. 

Speak reasonably, and remember it’s best to fall short some seconds and allow for a Q&A session rather than rushing and not giving a proper closure to your speech.

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Presentation Approaches, Presentation Ideas Filed under Presentation Ideas

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More From Forbes

10 things to do instead of powerpoint.

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The bad news: there are thousands of presentations every day, everywhere around the world.  Most of them use PowerPoint, badly, as speaker notes, with more words or numbers on each slide than anyone can read.

The results are predictably boring – no, excruciating  -- for their hapless audiences.  That’s human misery on a massive scale.

The good news: in an effort to make the world a better place, here are 10 things to do instead of PowerPoint.  Ways to make your points without the sleep-apnea-inducing effects of boring slides.  Ways to pep up your presentations without much additional effort.  Your audiences will thank me.

1.  Use props. For most workers, in a cubicle world, it’s sensory deprivation from 9 – 5.  The whirr of computers and the A/C.  The hum of colleagues chattering away.  The beige walls of the cube farm.  The fluorescent lighting.  It’s amazing anyone stays awake.  Offer the audience, then, something physical.  Instead of describing that new product on a slide, show them a prototype.  Pass it around.  Let the audience get physical.

2.  Use music. We have an emotional response to music which is much more powerful than we do to most words.  Especially words like “3rd Q results” and “product optimization.”  So add a soundtrack to your presentation.  It will bring it to life.  Do obey copyright and licensing laws, please.

3.  Use video. Video –good video -- has all the life in it that static slides lack.   A good clip can enchant, move, and thrill and audience in 60 seconds.  You can create the right emotional atmosphere to begin or end a speech – or to pick it up in the middle.

4.  Use a flip chart. Create any visuals you need right there in front of the audience.  No need for technology.  Just a magic marker and your arm.  The act of creation draws the audience in where a slide doesn’t.

5.  Ask the audience. Of course, the best way to draw the audience in is to draw them in.  Ask them to tell you their stories – as they relate to the topic at hand.  Ask the whole audience or just selected volunteers.

6.  Ask the audience – 2. Break the audience up into small groups and get them to respond to a challenge that you set, a question that you ask, or a problem that you pose.  Then have them to report back to the whole group.

7.  Ask the audience – 3. Play a game with the audience – relevant to the topic.  Award prizes.  Audiences love to compete.  Just don’t make the questions too difficult or the prizes too expensive – or too cheap.  Only Oprah gets to give away cars.

8.  Ask the audience – 4. Get the audience to design something – new products, plans, or ideas.  Give them plenty of paper, sticky notes, ipads, or whatever you have on hand that they can play with.

9.  Ask the audience – 5. Have the audience create video responses to what you’re talking about.  Hand out a dozen flip cams and get them in groups.  Give them a limited amount of time – 10 minutes, perhaps.  Then show some of the video to the whole group on the big IMEG screen.

10.  Combine any 3 of these to create huge audience buzz. Stop thinking of a presentation as a static activity where you show slides to a catatonic group of fellow humans.  You passive, them active.  Instead, treat them as co-conspirators in something exciting, educational, and fun.

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Build a presentation in minutes without powerpoint.

Create your entire interactive presentation with Mentimeter, our newly curated design layouts have just made your life even easier. The new Content slide options mean that you can incorporate beautiful design into your interactive presentation with ease. No more jumping around with different presentation platforms, you can do it all with Mentimeter.

Now with Mentimeter you can use Layouts to make professional-looking slide decks within minutes. Engage and grab the audience’s attention with beautiful design and make your presentation memorable with style and interactivity. Build your entire presentation in one place and ensure style consistency with clean and sleek looking slide decks. 

If you are looking for a free PowerPoint alternative, don’t forget it is free to get started with Mentimeter and the number of Content Slides you can use is unlimited on all accounts! Mentimeter is a web-based platform so you don’t need to download or install anything to get started.

Why create your entire presentation in Mentimeter:

Quick and easy to use .

Mentimeter is intuitive, easy and quick to get started. Choose the Content Slide for you and get to work. The new layout options ensure consistency throughout your presentation to create clean and minimal slides. Using our Content Slides means you don’t have to jump around to different presentation platforms or try and integrate Mentimeter to your Powerpoint. It is straightforward and quick to create your entire slide deck with Mentimeter.

Get a head start with our free templates in-app or on the website , get inspired and start engaging your audience. The ready-to-use templates ensure you inject some interactivity and can create an awesome presentation no matter how much time you have. 

Make sure every voice is heard

Powerpoint presentations are often static and a one-way dialogue. However, what makes a great presentation is the inclusivity of the audience, the collaboration and the diverse voices that can be heard. The presenter shouldn’t be the only one to have their say, the audience should too! You can use Mentimeter before a presentation to collect information, afterwards to get feedback and of course during the presentation to engage the participants. When other voices are heard you get a more varied and well-informed presentation and our interactive slides help with exactly that. To make sure every voice is heard and to engage your audience. Don’t forget, enabling Q&A throughout your presentation helps to connect with your audience and clear up any questions they may have.

What ideas do you have for this project?

Create impactful & memorable content.

68% of people believe that interactive presentations make it more memorable. Ensure maximum impact, help increase information retention and create an inclusive and collaborative environment with the different Mentimeter interactive Question Types. Make sure your participants leave your presentation with the key takeaways by engaging with them directly.

Give feedback

Engage the audience & grab their attention.

Mentimeter creates a visual impact. Create visually stunning word clouds, scales, ranking questions and more in minutes. Mentimeter makes sure that even your most basic Content Slides look good too with different Layout options. If you’re short on time you can choose from our image library or insert your own images. 

Keep everything together in one place

Isn’t it simpler to have one slide deck in one place? No integrations, no screen toggling, no wasting time. Instead, engage, interact and deliver an awesome presentation with Mentimeter. 

How to create your presentation without Powerpoint 

• Start a new presentation - Sign up or log into your Mentimeter account. Begin with the Content Slides to create the title page and intro to your presentation. The Bullet Slide is great to highlight the most important information and help users retain info. Use the new Layout options to decide where you want your image or text to be positioned, this is available for all Content slides and will help to create a polished presentation. 
• Choose a theme - you can choose one of the available themes to keep your presentation consistent. If you are on a pro account you can design your own themes .
• Find a template - save time by browsing our free ready-to-use templates to start making your presentation interactive. Get inspired and explore the templates for education, business, events and more. 
• Explore the Slides - discover our features and the different interactive question types to get real-time input from your audience. If you want your audience to be able to submit a question whenever one crops up, enable Q&A on all slides. The presenter can then choose when they wish to answer the question or, simply dedicate some time at the end to answer questions with a Q&A slide - it is up to you! You can also enable Comments From Audience to get live reactions from the audience. You can easily turn this on or off by using the keyboard shortcut ‘e’.
• Customize your slides - add content, videos, images, branding (on pro accounts) and add or remove emoji reactions. Of course, you can arrange your slides and change the order by dragging them.
• Get ready to present - Mentimeter automatically saves any work so you don’t need to worry about losing it. Once you’ve finished editing your presentation choose whether you want the presentations to be in presenter pace or audience pace . Hit present and see how engaged your audience will be. 

Using Mentimeter to create your presentation deck is sure to engage your audience and increase the energy in the room or online. Creating a killer presentation without Powerpoint has never been simpler! 

What is the difference between Powerpoint and Mentimeter?

Compared to Powerpoint, Mentimeter allows more interaction between the presenters and the audience. Mentimeter helps to engage your audience and keep their attention throughout a slide deck. Get real-time input from polls, word clouds, quizzes and Q&A sessions to help you prepare, engage and follow-up.

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How To Design and Deliver a 5-Minute Presentation

Attention spans are lower than they’ve ever been. We have the rise of short-form video content— TikTok— to thank for that. Short-form videos has changed the way audiences consume content in that they want to get to the key takeaway as quickly as possible. When you apply the new attention span norm (or lack thereof) to a presentation, a 60 minute presentation simply isn’t effective anymore. Presenters need to get their message across more efficiently in order to keep an audience engaged. Insert: a 5-minute presentation. 

A 5-minute presentation might be taking it to an extreme, and we realize not every deck can be trimmed down to meet those time restraints, but there are benefits to designing and delivering a quick, and to-the-point deck. The biggest benefits being time and engagement. The longer your presentation goes on, the greater the chance that you’re losing your audience to boredom. If you’re able to pack a bigger punch in less time, your audience will retain more of what you’re telling them with an interest in continuing the conversation. A shorter presentation also helps the presenter prioritize what really matters in the story so that they’re leading with more meaningful and valuable information. A win-win for everyone involved. 

In this blog we help you rethink your presentation game, and share how to design and deliver a 5-minute presentation effectively.  

Slides to include in a 5-minute presentation

When you’re preparing a quick presentation, the less time you spend on design the more time you have to focus on the delivery. But on the same coin, your deck design needs to be organized and impactful. This is where presentation software, like Beautiful.ai , really shines. Our Smart Slide templates automatically apply the principles of good design, so even the most amateur designers can create stunning slides in a fraction of the time by easily plugging in their content. The smart technology takes on the burden of design choices so that presenters can focus on what matters most: their 5-minute story. 

Here are the slides you should include in your 5-minute presentation deck. 

Title slide

A title slide is self-explanatory, but since this is a 5-minute presentation, you’ll want to provide as much context as possible without compromising the design. A title slide in this case should include the what (subject matter), why (it’s importance), and who (the thought-leader or expert on the topic). You won’t spend much time on this slide in the presentation, but it will tell the audience exactly what they’re about to learn and (hopefully) grab their attention. 

Outline slide

What are the specifics that you plan to cover in your 5-minute presentation? The next slide (the outline) should showcase more details about the presentation on a high-level. This helps set expectations with the audience on what’s to come, and how it’s relevant to them. 

Pro tip: incorporate animations and visual assets where it makes sense on slides to keep the audience engaged the entire 5 minutes.

Problem description

Before you can introduce your solution, you need to make the problem clear. The problem can be a gap in the market, a unique pain point, or an opportunity for improvement. By explaining the problem, you’re creating a sense of urgency and anticipation for your value proposition and the solution you’re offering. 

Proposed approach

You’ve piqued the interest of your audience, now it’s time to hit them with your proposed approach. What is the solution to the problem, and how will it benefit them? You only have five minutes, but don’t skimp on this slide. Your proposed solution should be very specific and the value should be clear. 

Summary slide

How you end a 5-minute presentation matters. Your summary slide should pack a punch, and leave the audience wanting more. This is what will motivate them to follow up or follow through with the final call-to-action (assuming there is one). You can treat your summary slide as an executive summary and recap the most important points, or leave them with a powerful statistic and next steps. 

Delivering a 5-minute presentation

Your deck is done, now let’s nail the delivery. Five minutes isn’t a lot of time to add context to the content you chose to include in the deck. Each slide in the presentation should have one key idea so the takeaways are obvious and clear. In your delivery, you can add color to those slides and elaborate where necessary. But remember, it’s a 5-minute presentation, and you should aim to present a slide per minute (give or take) to give yourself ample time to hit each key point. 

Because of the time limitations, practice is key. Do a few dry runs of your presentation in front of your dog or the mirror to ensure you're adhering to the time limitations, and then do a few more. Practice will help you ace your speech, while ensuring there aren’t any technical issues with your presentation throughout the deck. 

As a follow-up, you might choose to send your presentation deck to the audience via email after the meeting so they can view it in their own time. This gives them time to comb through your content at their leisure, which may result in additional questions or feedback. Use your email as an opportunity to remind them of the CTA and encourage them to take the next steps. 

Jordan Turner

Jordan is a Bay Area writer, social media manager, and content strategist.

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Ditch the slides: deliver great presentations without powerpoint.

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• Last Updated December 2, 2023

Introduction

Have you ever sat through a boring presentation? I’m going to guess your answer is “yes”. Invariably, when we ask this question to our program participants, all hands go up.

Think back to those presentations. I’m willing to bet there was a common element: a deck of densely packed  PowerPoint slides  behind the speaker.

Now, I don’t know about you, but as soon as I see slides like this in a presentation, my attention immediately starts to wane. You would think that visual information, graphics and graphs would enliven and enrich a presentation. But it’s not the software itself that’s the problem – it’s how it’s being used.

So how can we communicate more effectively –  without relying heavily on PowerPoint ?

In part one of our two-part video series  Presenting Without Slides,  I talk about why PowerPoint is such a presentation killer, and how to reframe your approach to using slide deck software in a way that is more  engaging to your audience .

How to Present Without Powerpoint

01. only use slides if they add value to your presentation.

For tens of thousands of years, humans have demonstrated effective communication without PowerPoint. Global businesses have been built, wars won and lost, worlds ‘discovered’ and centuries of learning compiled and shared without the use of PowerPoint. Projected imagery itself is, of course, a modern invention.

And while there is value in visual aids, we need to start thinking of ourselves as communicators first.

If the PowerPoint deck communicates the message or is used to simply format content ideas, then hand it out for people to read and follow it with a Q&A. Presenting is foremost a spoken, auditory experience with the visuals providing support and value.

Each slide needs to be rigorously and brutally assessed with this question: “How does this slide enrich, deepen or support the message?”

While stepping away from PowerPoint might seem daunting, numerous engaging visual aids can captivate your audience. Consider utilizing:

Whiteboards or Flip Charts: Engage your audience by sketching diagrams, mind maps, or key points as you speak. This interactive approach allows for real-time interaction and visual learning.

Props and Objects: Incorporate relevant props or physical objects related to your topic. For instance, if discussing teamwork, use a puzzle or rope to illustrate your point visually.

Handouts or Infographics: Prepare concise handouts or visually appealing infographics that complement your verbal presentation. These can be distributed before or after your talk to reinforce key information.

02. Be Confident Presenting Without Props

Imagine you walk into the room – no PowerPoint presentation behind you, no notes, no visual aids, no clicker in hand. You simply stand there in front of your audience and speak with zest and authenticity.

If you do this, you convey to your audience the  quality of authority . You’re saying, “I am confident enough to stand before you without the props to help me, because I am enough. What I have to share and say is enough value in and of itself.”

When you own the space, you become the powerful communicator.

Ask yourself, “If the projector exploded, or the whiteboard magically melted, could I still deliver the outcome? Would I have enough confidence in myself to articulate and convey my messages in a manner that engages and enriches my audience – and deepens their ability to apply what I have presented?”

Your answer must be “Yes!” It’s that simple. And that challenging.

Don’t believe me? Well, why not try it for yourself?

If you do get stuck try encouraging audience participation to create an immersive experience and take some the pressure off you.

These could include:

Group Activities or Exercises: Break your presentation into segments where the audience collaborates in small group discussions, activities, or problem-solving exercises. This fosters active engagement and reinforces learning.

Q&A and Discussion: Allocate time for open discussions, allowing attendees to ask questions or share opinions. This promotes dialogue and deeper understanding while keeping the presentation dynamic.

03. See Yourself as a Visual Aid

The third step to avoiding a dreary presentation is to think of yourself as a visual aid. Yes – you are the reference point! The other stuff you bring into the room is just collateral that either supports or distracts from what you have to say.

Your physiology, gestures and voice can create interest, intrigue, imagery and emphasis.

Your presence on stage is a significant visual aid itself. Consider these tips:

Body Language and Delivery: Use expressive gestures, varying tones, and impactful body language to emphasize key points. Your physical presence and energy level play a crucial role in engaging your audience.

Eye Contact and Connection: Establishing eye contact and connecting with your audience builds rapport and ensures their attention remains focused on your message.

Examples of Successful PowerPoint-Free Presentations

TED Talks: Many TED speakers deliver powerful presentations without relying heavily on slides. They use storytelling, props, and personal anecdotes to convey their messages effectively.

Live Demonstrations: Tech companies often showcase product features or concepts through live demonstrations instead of slides. These real-time examples create an engaging experience for the audience.

Remember, effective presentations rely on your confidence, communication skills, and ability to connect with your audience. PowerPoint is just one tool among many for communication. By exploring alternative methods, you can create impactful presentations that resonate long after the session ends.

Don’t shy away from experimenting with different presentation styles and tools to find what works best for you and your audience. It’s about delivering a memorable experience that leaves a lasting impression!

If you don’t feel quite up to it yet, don’t worry – we’ve got just the thing to help.

Join us at our next Public Speaking Workshop. Break the shackles of nerves and learn how to build and deliver engaging presentations to amplify your audience experience.

No more hiding behind PowerPoint slides – remember, it’s your message (and how you deliver it) that will make you a star!

The Colin James Method®  Facilitators train corporate executives to  improve their professional development  with a proven methodology. Our highly trained Facilitators and Coaches are recognised for their experience in their fields and have worked with many individuals and organisations around the world to master the art of communication.

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105+ Creative Presentation Ideas to Engage Your Audience

Written by: Orana Velarde

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

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

Here are some of the ideas we’re covering:

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

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

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

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

105+ Creative Presentation Ideas

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

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

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

1 Use Neon Colors

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

2 Be Minimal

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

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

3 Use all caps

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

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

Image Source

4 Go vertical

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

5  Use duotones

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

6 Add a video in different shapes or snippets

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

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

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

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

Hey marketers! Need to create scroll-stopping visual content fast?

• Transform your visual content with Visme’s easy-to-use content creation platform
• Produce beautiful, effective marketing content quickly even without an extensive design skillset
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7  Unify transitions horizontally

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

Create a slide deck like this in minutes.

• Search for the exact slides you need from a library of 900+ layouts
• Choose a classic or modern style
• Create automatically animated presentations

8  Black and white + spot of bright color

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

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

9 Use a color theme

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

- Kendra Bradley, Graphic Content Developer at WOW!

10  Add full-screen videos

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

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

11  Use an 80’s visual style

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

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

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

12  Go vintage

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

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

13  Use a monochrome palette

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

14  Tell a personal story

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

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

Watch the video below to learn how Colin Stokes did it

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

15  Creative photo crops

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

16 Add fun illustrations

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

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

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

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

17  Thick and bold fonts

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

18 Go with nature

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

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

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

19 Use circles

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

20 Add some sparkle (glitter backgrounds)

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

21 Get crafty (ripped paper details)

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

22 Cut-out paper illustrations

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

23  Pathway transitions

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

Create an automatically animated presentation in minutes.

24  use isometric illustrations.

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

25  Use motion graphics

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

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

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

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

26  Add GIFs to your slides

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

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

27  Use quotes between slides

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

28  Start with “once upon a time”

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

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

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

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

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

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

Create a scrolling presentation in minutes.

30  engage your audience.

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

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

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

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

31 Use a scrunched paper background

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

32 Add interactive pop-ups

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

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

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

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

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

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

33  Use a back-to-school theme

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

34  Use a billboard-inspired theme

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

35  Use black-and-white photography

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

36  Explain your reasons

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

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

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

37  Add an audio narrative

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

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

38 Follow a space theme with photography

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

39 Do a space theme with illustration

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

40  Include music

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

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

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

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

41  Graffiti photography backgrounds and details

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

42  Stop-motion

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

43  Claymation

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

44  Color blocking

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

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

45  Get surreal

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

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

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

46  Polaroids

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

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

47  Use a Handwriting Font

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

48  Use a geometric background

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

49 Coffee style design

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

50  Include memes

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

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

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

RELATED: 85+ Best Free Presentation Templates

51  Polka dots

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

52  Metaphors

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

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

53  Use timelines in your slides

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

54  Use a comic book style

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

55  Use a manga style

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

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

56  Use psychedelic visuals

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

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57  Use neon lights

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

58  Cinemagraph backgrounds

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

59  Full-screen video backgrounds

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

60  Visualize data

Staring at a large amount of numbers on screen can be overwhelming for most people, even if the realities of those numbers enforce your point. What’s the best way to avoid scaring your crowd? Put the data into easily understandable visualizations. This especially helpful when customizing sales, business or consultant presentation template . 

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

61  Use a wild west theme

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

62 Use mind maps

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

63  Use interactive geographic maps

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

Want to create your own interactive map?

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

64  Color contrasts

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

65  Live data graphs

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

66  Color fade transitions

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

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

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

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

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

68  Use humor

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

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

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

69  Tree diagram transitions

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

Want to create your own tree diagram?

• Get a head start with pre-made flowchart blocks
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70  Journal style (with hand-drawn illustrations on the margins)

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

71  Ink splatters

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

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

72  Passport with stamps

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

73  Express your emotions

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

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

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

74  Use a video game theme

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

75  Use postcards

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

76  Incorporate robots in the design

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

77  Chalk on blackboard

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

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

78  Get inspired by a specific location

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

79  Use props

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

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

80  Use hashtags as titles

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

81  Black background, white letters, and color accents

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

82  Vintage film edges

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

83 Adult coloring book inspired design

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

84  Stripes

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

85  Make each slide look like a social media post

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

86  Ink in water

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

87  Lego bricks

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

88  Use classic storytelling techniques

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

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

Click on image to view interactive slide show created with Visme

89  Jigsaw puzzles

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

90  Headlines coming in animated on boats/trains/airplane

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

91  Use a camouflage design

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

92  Use unique novelty fonts for headers

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

93  Use a city skyline

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

94  Use a connected dots background

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

95  Use a bokeh background

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

96  Use watercolor designs

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

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

98  Use bright fun colors

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

99  Use arrow graphics

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

100  Use electronic visuals

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

101  Metaphors

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

102  Keep it feminine

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

103  Go futuristic

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

104  Add a music background

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

105  Communicate with images

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

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

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

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

106  Include artsy data visualization

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

By Beyond Words Studio

RELATED:  The 25 Best Data Visualizations of 2018

107  Stay branded

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

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

108 Ask questions

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

109 Replace boring bullet points with visuals

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

110 Share your slide deck

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

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

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

Start Using These Creative Presentation Ideas

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

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

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

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About the Author

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

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Blog Marketing 15 Interactive Presentation Ideas to Elevate Engagement

15 Interactive Presentation Ideas to Elevate Engagement

Written by: Krystle Wong Aug 04, 2023

As attention spans continue to shrink, the challenge of engaging audiences in a short timeframe has never been more significant. Let’s face it — grabbing and keeping your audience’s attention can be quite the challenge, especially when time is ticking away. But fear not, I’ve got the perfect solution: interactive presentations!

Believe it or not, creating an interactive presentation is easier than you might think. In this guide, I’ll show you how to effortlessly turn ordinary slides into captivating experiences with 15 interactive presentation ideas that will leave your audience begging for more. From quirky polls and fun games to storytelling adventures and multimedia magic, these ideas will take your presentation game to the next level.

Venngage is a game-changer when it comes to empowering interactive presentations. With just a few clicks, users can customize their favorite presentation templates , add multimedia content and create immersive experiences that leave a lasting impact. Whether you’re a seasoned presenter or a newcomer, get started with Venngage to elevate your presentation game to new heights of engagement and creativity.

Click to jump ahead:

What is an interactive presentation?

15 ways to make a presentation interactive, 7 best interactive presentation software, what are some common mistakes to avoid when creating interactive presentations, interactive presentation faqs, how to create an interactive presentation with venngage.

An interactive presentation is a dynamic and engaging communication format that involves active participation and collaboration between the presenter and the audience. Unlike traditional presentations where information is delivered in a one-way manner, interactive presentations invite the audience to interact, respond and contribute throughout the session.

Think of it as a two-way street where you and your audience have a friendly chat. It’s like playing a fun game where you ask questions, get live feedback and encourage people to share their thoughts. 

To make a good presentation , you can utilize various tools and techniques such as clickable buttons, polls, quizzes, discussions and multimedia elements to transform your slides into an interactive presentation. Whether you’re presenting in-person or giving a virtual presentation — when people are actively participating, they’re more likely to remember the stuff you’re talking about.

Interactive presentations leave a lasting impression on the audience. By encouraging active participation and feedback, interactive presentations facilitate better understanding and knowledge retention. Here are 15 innovative 5-minute interactive presentation ideas to captivate your audience from start to finish:

1. Ice-breaker questions

Start your presentation with intriguing and thought-provoking questions or a fun icebreaker game. These questions should be designed to pique the audience’s curiosity and encourage them to think about the topic you’ll be covering. By doing so, you create an immediate connection with your audience and set the stage for a more engaged and attentive audience.

For example, if you’re giving a business presentation about management and leadership training, you could ask audience questions such as “What’s the best business advice you’ve ever received, and how has it impacted your career?”

2. Live polling

Incorporate live polls during your presentation using audience response systems or polling apps . This allows you to collect real-time feedback, opinions and insights from active participants. Live polling encourages active participation and involvement, making your presentation feel like a collaborative and interactive experience.

3. Q&A sessions

Encourage the audience to ask questions throughout your presentation, especially for pitch deck presentations . Address these questions in real-time, which fosters a more interactive and dynamic atmosphere. This approach shows that you value the audience’s input and promotes a two-way communication flow.

4. Clickable buttons

Add clickable buttons to your slides, allowing the audience to navigate to specific sections or external resources at their own pace. For example, you could include links to your social media accounts or extra reading materials in your education presentation to give further information about the topic and get your students engaged.

By providing this autonomy, you empower the audience to explore areas of particular interest, creating a more personalized and engaging experience through your interactive slideshow.

5. Storytelling

Incorporate anecdotes or personal stories related to your topic. Storytelling is a powerful way to emotionally connect with your audience, making your presentation more relatable and memorable. A little storytelling along with a set of creative slides draws the audience in and keeps them engaged as they follow the narrative.

6. Interactive charts and graphs

Use interactive charts and graphs that respond to user input to make your presentation interactive. For instance, allow the audience to click on data points to view more detailed information or to change the displayed data series. Creating charts with interactive visuals help the audience interact with the data, fostering better understanding and engagement.

7. Animated infographics

Add animations to your infographics, making them visually dynamic and progressive. Animated infographics reveal information gradually, keeping the audience curious and attentive. This transforms complex data into an easily digestible and engaging format.

Venngage’s extensive library of infographic templates is a powerful tool to visualize data and elevate the interactivity of your presentations. Personalizing the visuals ensures a cohesive and professional look throughout your interactive presentation. The templates are highly customizable, allowing you to adjust colors, fonts, and styles to match your presentation’s theme and branding. 

8. Gamification

Introduce an interactive quiz, puzzles, or challenges related to your presentation content. Gamification adds an element of fun and competition, motivating the audience to participate actively and boosting their learning experience. Here are some gaming presentation templates you could use. 

9. Virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR)

If applicable, leverage VR or AR technologies to provide immersive experiences. These interactive presentation tools transport the audience into a virtual or augmented environment, making your presentation more captivating and memorable.

10. Collaborative whiteboarding

Get your audience involved in your presentation by utilizing digital whiteboards or collaborative tools to brainstorm ideas collectively. This fosters teamwork and creativity, enabling the audience to actively contribute and feel a sense of involvement in the presentation.

11. Hyperlinked text

Keep the information in your slides minimal with a simple presentation and incorporate hyperlinks to direct viewers to relevant websites or blogs , resources, or additional information. This encourages self-exploration and gives the audience the opportunity to delve deeper into topics of interest.

12. Role-playing

Engage the audience in role-playing scenarios to explore different perspectives. Role-playing promotes active learning and helps the audience relate the content to real-life situations, enhancing their understanding and retention.

13. Embedded videos

Include video clips in your slides to provide visual explanations, demonstrations, or interviews. Videos add a dynamic element to your presentation, enriching the content and keeping the audience engaged. You can create these visual clips on a budget using a free screen recorder .

14. Audience-generated content

Encourage the audience to contribute ideas, stories or examples related to your professional presentation . Audience-generated content fosters a sense of ownership and involvement, making the presentation more interactive and personalized.

15. Slide transitions

Use slide transitions to create smooth animations between slides. Well-planned transitions maintain the audience’s interest and keep the presentation slides flowing seamlessly.

Interactive elements aside, enhance your presentation with these guides on how to summarize information for a captivating presentation and how to make a persuasive presentation to captivate your audience. 

If you’re looking to create engaging and interactive presentation slides that captivate your audience, these presentation software options are sure to elevate your game:

Prezi is renowned for its dynamic and non-linear presentation style, enabling users to craft visually stunning and interactive presentations. With an array of templates and animation effects, Prezi enhances audience engagement, making your presentations more captivating and memorable.

2. Mentimeter

Mentimeter serves as an audience response system, empowering real-time interaction during presentations. Users can create interactive polls, quizzes, word clouds and more, allowing the audience to respond using their smartphones or other devices. This fosters active participation and provides valuable feedback instantly.

3. Google Slides

Google Slides is a free cloud-based presentation software that not only offers collaboration features but also enables real-time interactions. It includes add-ons and third-party integrations to further enhance interactivity, making it an excellent choice for collaborative and engaging presentations.

4. Microsoft PowerPoint

PowerPoint, a classic presentation software, has evolved to incorporate more interactive features like live captions, real-time collaboration and interactive elements such as quizzes and forms. With its familiar interface and versatile functionalities, PowerPoint remains a reliable choice for interactive presentations.

5. Prezentor

Prezentor caters to sales-oriented presentations focusing on interactive storytelling and data-driven content. It offers analytics to track audience engagement and behavior during presentations, allowing you to fine-tune your approach and keep your audience hooked.

6. Opinion Stage

Opinion Stage is a visual and interactive data collection tool designed to engage and excite audiences whether sitting in a lecture hall, participating in a live Zoom, or watching an on-demand webinar. The Opinion Stage tools are simple and intuitive, making it easy to create attention-grabbing quizzes, surveys, and polls in minutes. A great way to spice up any presentation, encourage audience participation, and collect authentic feedback.

7 . Venngage

Venngage stands out as a versatile design tool that facilitates the creation of interactive infographics, data visualizations and presentations with ease. Offering various interactive elements and animations, Venngage empowers you to craft visually appealing and engaging presentations effortlessly.

With these interactive presentation software options at your disposal, you can unleash your creativity and deliver presentations that leave a lasting impact on your audience. So, go ahead and make your presentations interactive, captivating and memorable!

For more presentation software options, check out this blog on the 12 best presentation software for 2023.

Creating interactive presentations can be a game-changer for engaging your audience and enhancing your presentation skills, but steering clear of common pitfalls is essential. Here are some key mistakes to avoid when crafting your interactive presentations:

1. Overloading with interactivity

While interactivity is fantastic, bombarding your audience with too many interactive elements can backfire. Strive for a balanced approach that enhances engagement without overwhelming your listeners.

2. Ignoring audience relevance

Failing to tailor interactive elements to your audience’s interests and preferences can lead to disconnection. Make sure your interactions resonate with your specific audience for a more meaningful experience.

3. Not testing interactive elements

Skipping thorough testing of interactive features before showtime can spell disaster. Avoid technical glitches by diligently testing all interactive components in advance.

4. Poor timing and pace

Timing is everything, especially with interactive activities. Ensure seamless integration by planning your key points and the timing of your interactive elements carefully.

5. Lack of clear purpose

Every interactive element should serve a purpose and contribute to your presentation’s objectives. Don’t add interactions just for the sake of it — ensure they add value and align with your message.

6. Failing to engage beyond interactivity

While interactive elements are powerful tools, remember that content is king. Combine your interactive features with compelling storytelling and valuable insights to create an immersive and impactful presentation.

Incorporating animated slides into your interactive presentations enhances the overall appeal and interaction, turning an ordinary presentation into an engaging experience. Try it out with one of our animated presentation templates to get started. 

How do you start an interactive presentation?

Begin by grabbing the audience’s attention with an intriguing question or a surprising fact, setting the tone for a dynamic and engaging session.

Which type of presentation is the most interactive?

Workshops and seminars are often the most interactive types of presentations as they encourage active participation, discussions and hands-on activities.

How can interactive presentations enhance audience engagement?

Interactive presentations foster a two-way communication flow, involving the audience through polls, quizzes, discussions and multimedia elements, leading to increased interest, attentiveness and better retention of information.

What are some common interactive elements to include in a presentation?

Common interactive elements include clickable buttons, hyperlinked text, polls, quizzes, interactive charts, multimedia content and audience participation activities.

Can interactive presentations be used for educational purposes?

Absolutely! Interactive presentations are highly effective for educational purposes as they promote active learning, encourage critical thinking, and provide real-time feedback and knowledge exchange opportunities.

Need inspiration on how to give an engaging presentation ? Here are 120+ presentation ideas you could use. 

Venngage makes it easy for anyone to infuse interactivity into their presentations. From clickable buttons and hyperlinked text to interactive infographics and dynamic charts, Venngage offers a diverse range of interactive elements to captivate and engage the audience. Here’s how you can make your presentation more fun and interesting with Venngage:

• Sign up or log in to Venngage to access the platform.
• Choose a presentation template or start with a blank canvas to begin designing your interactive presentation.
• Add and edit slides in the Venngage editor to structure your presentation content effectively.
• Customize the design by selecting themes, fonts, colors and backgrounds to match your style and branding.
• Use interactive elements like buttons, links, pop-ups and hover effects to engage the audience during the presentation.
• Enhance engagement by incorporating interactive media such as videos and audio clips.
• Preview and test your entire presentation to ensure everything works smoothly before presenting it to your audience.
• Save your interactive presentation on Venngage and share it online or download it in various formats for presenting purposes.

Well, I hope these 15 5-minute interactive presentation examples can help unlock a new level of audience engagement for your next presentation. From fun quizzes and interactive storytelling to multimedia magic and gamified challenges, the possibilities are endless. So, don’t be afraid to experiment, tailor the ideas to suit your audience members and let your creativity shine.  

That said, remember to strike a balance and keep the interactivity purposeful and relevant. Some common mistakes to avoid when creating interactive slides include overloading the presentation with too many interactive elements and failing to align the interactive elements with the overall presentation goals and content. 

Got it? Great. Now let’s turn that boring presentation around!

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5 Ways to Give a Presentation That No One Will Ever Forget

We’ve all been there: In the audience at a dry pitch event or witnessing a lackluster presentation in a work meeting and counting the minutes until you can stop pretending to listen.

It’s alarming how common the expectation is for a presentation to be boring, especially when there are simple and concrete tools you can use to be engaging and memorable. So let’s scrap the dusty PowerPoint presentations and shake things up!

As sketch comedians who perform text from the internet word-for-word onstage, we’ve been giving a lot of lessons to techies, entrepreneurs, and corporate folk alike about how to take their content and make it exciting, no matter what that raw material is. And now, we’re bringing a few of our favorite tips to you.

Whether you’re pitching a product or presenting at a staff meeting , here are five ways to create memorable moments in any presentation.

1. Use Your Audience

There’s no better way to wake up your audience and keep them engaged than to literally use them in your presentation. Don’t ask rhetorical questions; ask actual questions, and wait for people to really answer you. If they don’t, ask again.

Alternatively, find ways to get creative with audience engagement: For instance, rather than show everyone that 20% of your demographic thinks one way through a boring slide, try having 20% of them move to one side of the room. Or, have the chairs already set up at 20/80 when people arrive, and at some point ask if they know why they’re seated that way. (You could also gift prizes hidden under seats to 20% of the audience, Oprah-style, but we realize this might only be exciting when the loot is a budget-breaking Lexus or cruise vacation.)

On a related note, know your audience. You probably already know that you should customize your presentations slightly based on the audience , but we encourage you to go one step further. Are there anecdotes or examples that you can alter specifically based on the demographic? How much or what kind of humor will your audience be okay with? On that note:

2. Don’t Fear the Funny

A lot of people come to us because they want to create memorable moments and add humor to their presentations, but then they’re afraid that they can’t do that. “Oh, I’m not funny,” they say. “I’m not an actor; I could never do that.”

Well, first of all, you can! What most people don’t realize is that adding humor does not mean that you need to start honing your stand-up skills, which sounds terrifying even to us.

There are plenty of ways to add humor while taking the pressure completely off of you. A strategically placed clip of, say, a slow loris eating a banana can introduce a section on internet behavior, or Avril Lavigne’s “why do you have to go and make things so complicated” can start playing after you make your point about simplification.

Of course, always abide by tip #1 and know your audience; different levels and types of humor will work with different demographics, while potentially offending others. For stodgier groups, something as painless as a long pause at the right moment (e.g., to illustrate how much time one might waste without your product or service) can leave your audience in titters and remembering that one moment.

3. Incorporate Music. Or Memes. Or a Dance Ensemble.

Maybe your decks are beautiful. Maybe you are a Prezi pro. Nevertheless, we’ve all seen a million Keynotes and PowerPoints, and at least a dozen Prezis. What will really help you make your presentation memorable? Cat memes . Theme music. Cat themes and meme music!

In other words, don’t always rely on the “tried-and-true,” as that can be a pretty good indicator that everyone is already doing it. Challenge yourself to illustrate bullet points or guiding concepts in unusual, less literal ways. Turn an idea on its head and get people laughing with a parody video. Call a volunteer “assistant” up to the stage. In creating scenes onstage, we always talk about showing rather than telling. Always ask yourself how can you enrich your message with tools or media that the audience is not expecting.

4. Use Projections Wisely (or Not at All)

We see far too many presentations in which slides are used, well, the same exact way everyone else uses them. Can you project somewhere surprising, rather than on the same screen as the last presenter? Can you inject a little comedic timing into your slide presentation? Oftentimes, you may not need a slide at all and can use your intonation and presence alone to tell your story. Shakespearean scholar and theater director John Barton, for example, recites over 100 Knights of the Round Table in front of a live audience, using the tone of his voice and his demeanor to tell you about the personalities of each knight. Challenge yourself to be communicative without technology at least once in your presentation.

5. Take the Time to Brainstorm

Expecting to be struck by inspiration in the moment is like expecting your mom to understand Tinder. Don’t count on it.

Some of us are luckier than others, but most “luck” is a combination of skill and hard work . It’s the same for creativity. Cultivating ideas (and ideas that work) takes time. You might just have to take that extra hour or three to plan your presentation’s creative move. Don’t feel badly about it! No one will know, and the truth is that great presenters are already doing it; you just don’t realize it.

Spend time brainstorming all the out-of-the-box things you can do. Do it now. Make a list. Hash out your ideas and revise them. Think in “what ifs.” If enough people read this article, tips #1-4 will become cliché, because everyone will be using cat memes and hiring dance ensembles. But only tip #5 will never fail you!

Go forth and entertain!

Photo of person speaking courtesy of Shutterstock .

Presentation

How Many Slides for a 15-Minute Presentation?

Table of Contents

Ever faced a blank presentation template and wondered how many slides to include? You’re not the only one. The perfect number of slides for a 15-minute presentation can be a puzzle for many presenters.

The truth is, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. However, by keeping a few things in mind, you can create a presentation that’s both informative and engaging, without overwhelming your audience with too many slides. Let’s explore some factors to consider.

How Many Slides for 15 Minutes Presentation?

When you are preparing your presentation, a general guideline is to plan for 1-2 minutes per slide, meaning around 10-15 slides for a 15-minute presentation.

This is just a starting point, though. The 10/20/30 rule by Guy Kawasaki suggests a maximum of 2 minutes per slide, but you should also think about these things and adjust your slide count:

• How complex is the material? If your topic is complicated, you might need more slides to explain it clearly.
• Who is your audience? Consider how long your audience can pay attention and how much they already know about the topic.
• What style of presentation are you doing? If you’re using a lot of data, you might need more slides than if you’re telling a story.

Factors Affecting Presentation Time

Several factors can affect how long your presentation will last:

Content and Complexity

If your topic is complex with lots of data or detailed arguments, you might need more slides and time to explain. Presentations filled with visuals, like charts or diagrams, could require less talking and might be shorter.

Presentation Style

• Lectures : Usually rely on more slides, so they may take longer.
• Workshops : Often involve audience participation, which can make them shorter.
• Sales Pitches : Tend to focus on important points with fewer slides.
• In-Depth Explorations : Might require longer presentations with more details.

Delivery and Audience :

• A fast-speaking presenter might get through slides quickly, while someone who pauses for emphasis or questions will take longer.
• If your audience is well-informed, they might understand the content quickly, making the presentation faster. But if they are less familiar with the topic, you might need to slow down and explain more, extending the presentation time.

Additional Factors

• Using animations, transitions, or videos can enhance your presentation’s look but may also increase the time it takes.
• It would help if you also planned time for audience questions and discussions.

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Presentation Tips to Stay on Time

Timing is everything in a presentation. Here are some tips to help you stay on track:

Practice Makes Perfect

Rehearsing is essential for timely presentations. If you’re not familiar with your material, practice to ensure you can deliver it within the time limit.

Prioritize your Points

Start with the most important content. If you run out of time, you’ll have covered the essentials.

Less is More

Identify the three most important takeaways from your presentation. Mention them clearly at the beginning and end—your audience is more likely to remember a few important points than a long list.

Manage Your Time

Set checkpoints in your presentation to help you stay on track and adjust your pace if needed.

Keep it Simple

Don’t overload your presentation with too much information. It’s better to cover a few important points well than to rush through too much.

One Idea Per Slide

Stick to one main idea per slide to keep your presentation clear and easy to follow.

Tell a Story

Think of your presentation as a story, with each slide building on the last. This approach keeps your audience engaged.

Bonus Tip: Focus on Quality

In presentations, the focus is shifting towards using fewer slides to create a stronger connection with your audience. By having fewer slides, you can:

Encourage Discussion

Fewer slides give more room for conversations and questions, making your presentation more interactive.

Stay Focused

With fewer slides to manage, you can concentrate on engaging with your audience rather than flipping through slides.

Make Each Slide Matter

Each slide should be thoughtfully designed to be visually appealing and packed with valuable information that leaves a lasting impression.

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Closing Thoughts

When planning a 15-minute presentation, there’s no strict rule for the number of slides you should use. It’s all about balance—keeping your content clear and engaging without overwhelming your audience. Remember, it’s the quality of your message, not the quantity of slides that truly matters.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can i effectively time my powerpoint presentation.

Timing your presentation is crucial for keeping your audience engaged. Our blog provides detailed steps and tips on how to achieve the perfect pace.

How much time does it typically take to prepare a 5-minute presentation?

The time required to create a 5-minute presentation can vary depending on factors like your familiarity with the topic and the complexity of your slides. However, a good estimate is around 1-2 hours.

How long should I allocate for a 10-minute presentation?

For a 10-minute presentation, you might need approximately 2-3 hours to develop your content, design your slides, and practice your delivery. Click here to check out our blog to learn more about how it’s done.

What’s a reasonable timeframe for a 20-minute presentation?

A 20-minute presentation generally requires around 4-6 hours of preparation, including research, writing, and slide creation.

How much time should I invest in a 30-minute presentation?

A 30-minute presentation typically demands 6-8 hours of preparation to ensure a well-structured and informative delivery.

What’s a good estimate for a 45-minute presentation?

For a 45-minute presentation, you might need to allocate 8-10 hours to thoroughly research, develop, and refine your content.

How long should I plan for a 60-minute presentation?

A 60-minute presentation often requires 10-12 hours of preparation to ensure a comprehensive and engaging experience for your audience.

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Best practices for making awesome PowerPoint slides

Whether you’re presenting a slideshow to your executives, clients, or peers, you want to convey your message clearly and successfully, and at the very least prove that you know how to use PowerPoint . Unfortunately, many mistakes can be made when creating PowerPoint presentations.

Choose the fonts wisely

Select pleasing colors.

• Don’t overuse animations and effects

Use a standard presentation rule

From hard-to-read fonts to colors that hurt the eyes of your audience, here are some best practices to keep in mind for your next PowerPoint slideshow.

Using a fancy, dramatic, or even whimsical font can be tempting. But you must consider the readability of the font. You want your audience to easily see your headings and bullet points. Consider the two basic font styles: serif and sans serif.

Serif fonts are more decorative, have a classic appearance, and are frequently used in print publications. Each letter has a stroke that extends from a point in the letter. Popular serif styles include Times New Roman, Garamond, Georgia, and Baskerville.

Sans serif fonts are more precise, have a clean appearance, and are frequently used in digital publications. Each letter is clear-cut without wings or curves at its points. Popular sans serif styles include Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, and Calibri.

Because of the extended strokes, serif fonts can appear a bit blurry on a screen. This makes a sans serif font the favored choice. The bottom line is that you should remain consistent and use the same type, serif or sans serif, for all fonts in the slideshow.

The colors you use in your PowerPoint presentation can be just as important as the content. You want to use those that enhance the appearance of the slideshow, not distract or give your audience a headache.

As Microsoft’s Robert Lane explains in his article about combining colors in PowerPoint, mixing red and blue or red and green can cause eye strain. Plus, red and green mixtures are difficult to see for those with color blindness.

The article mentions that warm colors like reds, oranges, and yellows are eye-catching, whereas cool colors like blues, greens, and purples draw less attention. Additionally, lighter colors are more noticeable than dark.

One of the easiest ways to choose the colors for your presentation is to use a built-in theme. Select the Design tab and you’ll see a collection of Themes in the ribbon.

Once you select a theme, you can then use the Variants section to choose a different color scheme. Each scheme includes eight complementing colors. You can also pick the font style you want to use in the Variants drop-down menu.

Tip : You can also check out the Design Ideas if you need help with the layouts for your slides.

Don’t overuse animations and effects

Animations can be attention-grabbing additions to a slideshow. But if you overuse or misuse them, they can be detrimental to your presentation and actually turn off viewers. The best thing to do is consider your audience and slideshow’s purpose.

For instance, if you are presenting the slideshow to a classroom of 8-year-old students, animations can grab and hold their attention more than simple images or words. However, if you’re presenting to your company’s executive team or board of directors, animations can come across as unprofessional. Also, be wary of embedding videos in PowerPoint — only do so when relevant.

If you really want to include animations, make them subtle or purposeful. As an example, you may want to expand on each bullet point in your list. You can create an animation to display the bullet points one by one and only when you click.

To do this, select the first bullet point, go to the Animations tab, and choose the Appear effect. Then, in the Timing section of the ribbon, choose On click in the Start drop-down list. Do the same for each bullet point in your list.

This creates a simple animation that benefits your presentation. It doesn’t distract but instead keeps your audience focused on your current talking point.

What is the 10/20/30 rule of PowerPoint? What is the five-by-five rule? What about the 5/5/5 and seven-by-seven rules? Rules, rules, rules. These are different standards that many recommend using when it comes to creating PowerPoint presentations.

• The 10/20/30 rule : Have no more than 10 slides, a presentation no longer than 20 minutes, and a font size no smaller than 30 points.
• The five-by-five rule : Have no more than five words per line and five lines per slide.
• The 5/5/5 rule : Have no more than five words per line, five lines per slide, and five text-heavy slides in a row.
• The seven-by-seven rule : Have no more than seven words per line and seven lines per slide.

What each of these rules basically means is: Keep it simple.

The first rule, 10/20/30, is a good rule to follow for your overall presentation. While it may not always be possible, the more succinct a presentation, the more successful it will be.

The last three rules are helpful ones to follow when you’re adding text to your slides. As you know, presentations are visual. Using too much text means your audience is reading more than watching.

Hopefully, these best practices will help you create a memorable and effective slideshow. For other ways to enhance your presentation, look at how to add audio to the slides or how to  include music in PowerPoint .

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If you're using Microsoft Office on your Windows PC, then you might want to keep your eye out for potential new security issues.

Microsoft has just backtracked on a decision it made earlier in 2022, and will no longer be blocking Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macros in Office files by default across Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, and Visio.

Microsoft needs your help to shape the future of its Office suite of products. Five new default fonts are in the works for Microsoft 365 -- which covers Word, Excel, and PowerPoint -- and Microsoft is seeking out feedback for which one is best.

The five new potential default font families are now available as a download for testing and have various themes. The list includes fonts with the unique names of Tenorite, Bierstadt, Skeena, Seaford, and Grandview. There's a separate artist behind each one, and the designs span different geometric, human, and industrial shapes, according to Microsoft.

Many of the apps from the Microsoft 365 suite now run natively on Apple's new M1-powered MacBooks. Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote are now all able to take full advantage of Apple's custom ARM-based silicon.

These new Microsoft 365 apps for Apple M1 Macs are all universal apps, which means that they will also run on traditional Macs with Intel processors. This also means that the Office apps on Apple's M1 Macs -- like the new MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini -- should all feel snappier and faster than when they were previously running under emulation with Rosetta 2.