how to make cool presentations graphic design
With most people tuning out of a PowerPoint presentation within the first 10 minutes, creating an engaging presentation that keeps your audience hooked till the end can be a challenge.
This is why we've created this post with 100+ 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 ideas to practice using our presentation maker and create your own presentation in minutes.
100+ Creative Presentation 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 a great way of being unique. 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.
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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.
4 Go vertical
Rectangular presentations are definitely the norm, but with the rise of Instagram Stories, this might be starting to change. Now that we can put archived stories into a 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 Do the unexpected
How many people would typically relate typography and dating? Probably very few people. Naturally, that's why Fontshop—Typography is so entertaining.
This presentation fully commits to the comparison, too; the words are all specifically chosen to make it sound like an individual going through puberty or looking for a significant other, rather than looking for the right font to use in a given situation. All the while it teaches what it actually wants to get across—the importance of knowing which font to use, and when, for what kind of emotions you want to evoke.
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.
8 Black and white + spot of bright color
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 wood theme
A wooden background can give your presentation a homey cabin feel or a wooden cutting board appeal. It can work for presentations about food or about woodworking. If the wooden background is subtle, it can fit any topic by giving a comfy visual. You could even choose different styles of wood; classic brown, washed out white, or repurposed wood with paint remains.
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.
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.
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.
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 Be kid-friendly with cute illustrations
Let's say you are presenting your brand of kid-friendly skin products to a family vacation hotel. Why not use cute illustrations to add a fun visual element to the slide backgrounds. You can choose cute monsters, fruits with smiley faces, illustrated human child characters or even aliens. The cute characters could even be accompanied by a speech bubble presenting your products.
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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 use 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 which relate to nature or natural topics, but also for a home decor proposal or creative direction pitch for a TV ad. 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 .
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. Motion graphics don't necessarily tell stories but rather show the movement of a process. 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.
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.
27 Use quotes between slides
Quotes can be good breathers between a whole 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"
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
Your slides can be lined up vertically to create a scrolling infographic instead of a classic slide by slide transition presentation. An added bonus to this style of presentation 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 the presentation online.
30 Engage Your Audience
What's one of the best ways to make your presentations more interesting? Make the audience a part of them.
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 Make a provocative statement
"People don't care about your brand." Reading that, you'd probably be compelled to see how the speaker justifies their points, right?
Well, the presentation of the same name does just that—it begins with that unexpected statement, explains why, and then shows you how to overcome that hurdle. Leading with something thought-provoking and surprising entices people, and more than likely they'll follow along just to see what you have to say.
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
Sometimes, what people really want to know about—more than your product and what it can do—are your reasons for creating the product or presentation in the first place.
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.
Explain why your work is important to you, and you're likely to reach a lot more individuals.
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.
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.
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.
46 Polaroids
Polaroids are a photography favorite. 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.
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 kind of presentation, 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.
51 Polka dots
Using a polka-dot background 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 a 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 presentation. A timeline can either be inside one slide or it can be connected between various slides. You can make a timeline with icons, with connected shapes or on 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
Much like comic books, the Japanese art of Manga can give a presentation a very unique look. 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.
57 Use neon lights
Neon lights are a great way to give your presentation some life when it's otherwise visually bland. There are plenty of neon light fonts available online to choose from, from classic style neon tubing on a wall to a neon style given to a font to make it look like neon. Presentations of any topic can be given an additional visual with a bit of neon brightness.
58 Cinemagraph backgrounds
A cinemagraph is like a GIF loaded with elegance. The idea behind a cinemagraph is a photo with a moving section which makes it look cinematic. This kind of background can keep your viewers happily hypnotized while listening to your audio narrative or keep them on the slide longer to truly grasp the information being given. There are cinemagraphs available for all sorts of themes and topics. You can definitely find one that suits your needs.
59 Full-screen video backgrounds
A full-screen background can be really appealing. But just like other design ideas, the video you choose needs to match the theme and topic of your presentation. Your best bet is to have a video which is directly related to what your presentation is about. Videos can be created especially for your purpose, sourced with permission from YouTube or bought from a stock video site.
60 Visualize data
Staring at a large amount of numbers on screen can be overwhelming for most people, even if the realities of those numbers enforce your point. What's the best way to avoid scaring your crowd? Put the data into easily understandable visualizations.
If you want to take this a step further, you can use illustrations or create infographics to make these data visualizations even more engaging.
61 Use a wild west theme
The wild west is not a very versatile theme but can work for a history project or a proposal for a wild west themed party or event. What entails a wild west theme? Brown sandy tones, horses, cowboys, and tumbleweeds. If the full-on wild west theme is too much, you can also take a cue from the era and be inspired by the color scheme. Another approach would be to use photography from the actual west of the United States, mountains and deserts and so on.
62 Use mind maps
Mind maps are great visual tools for explaining concepts easily. By including mind maps in your slides, you can relay complicated information visually and creatively. There are eight types of mind maps, the most common being bubble maps, the tree map, and flow map. Each one has a different purpose and you can learn all about this in our guide about mind maps in the Visual Learning Center.
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63 Use interactive geographic maps
Maps are always a good idea inside a presentation. But interactive maps are so much better. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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 presentation you are designing is 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 and green, blue, and yellow colors 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 files, 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.
97 Paint
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.
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.
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.
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.
107 Stay branded
This creative tip is a simple one. 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.
Customize this presentation template and make it your own!Edit and Download
108 Ask questions
A great tip to make your presentations more interactive is to ask questions from your audience. For example, like in 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.
Customize this presentation template and make it your own!Edit and Download
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.
Customize this presentation template and make it your own!Edit and Download
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.
Create a free account with Visme to start building a presentation your audience will love.
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Source: https://visme.co/blog/creative-presentation-ideas/