Making Good PowerPoint Presentations

Carl Shank • February 11, 2023

How do you make good, eye-catching, informative and interesting PowerPoint™ presentations? Busy office people generally use either too much of a good thing (like templates) or too little and bore their audiences. Or, they see PowerPoint as the sum of all things and fail to give enough information for an accurate study or diagnosis of a project. The image below is an example of good information, but arranged in a boring and unattractive and clunky manner.

The slide on the left has problems. First, it gives too much data for one slide. The very first rule of PowerPoint (PP) is to make each slide clean and simple and uncluttered. There is too much here for one slide. Then, the font used (office Helvetica) is too bland and uninteresting. There is no differentiation between the title font and the content. There is not enough "white space" on the slide since everything is crowded in on it. And the size of the text is too small to read at a distance.

Note in the redone PP slides above, there is sufficient interest, clarity and an uncluttered feel. There is a distinction between the header font (here Formata Bold) and the text font (here ITC Stone Serif). They are large enough to read at a convenient distance. Indeed, this slide does not contain everything the original had, but then you use multiple slides. I like the black-on-white slide better than the white-on-black, but the point is clarity, simplicity and directness in a black and white format. Note also we dodge the standard bullet (•) in favor of what is called a "dingbat" (from Zaph Dingbat font). This adds interest. In addition, the company logo is on each slide, reminding the viewer of the source of the presentation. But what about colors?

Here we use a convenient colorful Microsoft PP Template. But note the washed out yellow on red background, which is never a good choice.  And the small and insignificant same type used for the subtitle.  Also, the alignment is off with "Making A Good Presentation" too close to the white line at the top. A better choice recommended by the template itself is below.

The choice of fonts used is better and the template is more interesting. I still think the subtitle is still too small for distance viewers. Here let me point out that there are a multitude of templates on Microsoft PowerPoint™ that are available, but most users have no idea how to use them and what to use of them in a presentation. Consequently, a too gaudy template choice is often used for a simple presentation and can be distracting to the audience. People pay attention to the bells and whistles of the template choice rather than the information being presented. What about motion graphics and animations on a slide?

This is the opening slide to an orientation for new staff to an architectural firm. In a day of animations and video snaps, this might be seen as an acceptable and "cute" way to begin the new staff orientation. However, it also may seem rather childish and unprofessional. The key here in PP is to use those animation elements and video snapshots carefully and professionally, not detracting from the business. This might be more appropriate to a children's classroom presentation or a fun get-together.

The free Lottie Animation is from Thomas Kiguru.

USING GRAPHICS & VISUALS

Using abstract concepts, like flow charts or complex ideas and data, custom illustrations can help create consistency and communication value with your audience. Make sure the graphics fit the image of the company. Do not use grainy, pixelated, low-resolution images or clip art in your presentations. (From Camille del Rosario, Design Pickle, "How To Improve PowerPoint Presentations: 15 Proven Tips)

CHARTS & GRAPHS. The key here in providing a compelling PP presentation is to lead the way. Point your audience to where you want them to be and to get your message across to them. Make the headline big and bold and set off the categories so that they are clear and readable. Then, make sure that what's important to you gets across to them. In the chart and graphic below, part of a PP church health presentation, the dull Excel stats are made into a viewable and attractive bar chart or graphic. The eight qualities tested through surveys are listed on the left of the bar chart. The lines are given to the church to indicate where they fall within universal health guidelines, the "red" line being the minimum health line, the "yellow" line the median health line, and the "green" line the best health mark for a growing and healthy church or congregation. The "purple"line is this church's average health for August 2021, with the dotted "black" line the average church health in the Northeast part of America in this time period. At a glance, this church can see where they fall on universal church health markers. The green bar indicates their healthiest factor, while the red bar, called the "minimum factor" in church health terms, indicates where work is needed. Note the background graphic used on the slide to indicate the source of the information analyzed (NCDAmerica).

Successful Layout & Design

French Typography History (Part 2)

By Carl Shank • August 24, 2026
Art Nouveau and Paris Between 1500 and 1900 typography evolved from Renaissance humanist forms to industrial mass production and artistic revival. Old style typefaces (like Garamond) moved to Transitional faces (like Baskerville) to Modern/Didone faces (like Didot and Bodoni) to Industrial display types (fat faces, slab serifs, sans serifs) to the Arts & Crafts revivals. Art Nouveau was a reaction against the academicism, eclecticism and historicism of nineteenth century architecture and decorative art. The new art movement had its roots in Britain, in the floral designs of William Morris, and in the Arts and Crafts movement founded by the pupils of Morris. Art Nouveau fonts ( REFERENCE ) grew out of the late nineteenth century Art Nouveau movement (c. 1890–1910). The style flourished across Europe and America in architecture, furniture, illustration, and typography. In lettering, Art Nouveau embraced organic forms, flowing curves, floral motifs, and asymmetry, reflecting the movement’s fascination with natural growth and hand-drawn ornament. Art Nouveau took its name from the Maison de l'Art Nouveau, a Parisian gallery that exhibited the works of artists and designers who were associated with the movement. The style was characterized by flowing, curvilinear forms inspired by natural shapes and motifs such as flowers, vines, and insects. It also incorporated elements from other artistic traditions, such as Japanese art and the Arts and Crafts movement. The work of Alphonse Mucha and the type of Eugene Smauel Grasset (1845–1917) are particularly important to understanding this period. (ILLS) Grasset taught design at the École Guérin from 1890 to 1903, at the École d’Art graphique in the rue Madame from 1903 to 1904, at theAcadémie de la Grande Chaumiere from 1904 to 1913, and at the École Estienne in Paris. Grasset had freely adapted the alphabet of Nicolas Jenson (1471) with the intention of using it to print a book on his own method for ornamental composition, inspired by the courses he gave to the Guérin school. (Wikipedia) The Grasset Typeface (ILLS) from Lewis F. Day's Alphabets Old and New , London, 1910, shows that art nouveau flair for which these men were famous. The font has been digitized by CARE Typography and is offered with a number of other historic fonts for a modest fee. Contact cshanktype@gmail.com for details. Auriol (1901, George Auriol, France). Produced by G. Peignot et Fils foundry, was one of the most widely used Art Nouveau fonts in Paris. It was inspired by Japanese calligraphy. Japanese calligraphy, called Shodo or Shuji, heavily influenced Art Nouveau type. Art Nouveau was particularly popular in Europe, where it influenced a wide range of artistic disciplines, including architecture, interior design, furniture, jewelry, and graphic design. Some of the most notable Art Nouveau architects included Hector Guimard, Antoni Gaudí, and Victor Horta, while artists such as Alphonse Mucha, Aubrey Beardsley, and Gustav Klimt were celebrated for their decorative and ornamental works. By 1910, Art Nouveau was fading. It was seen as overly decorative and was replaced by Art Deco, Plakatstil (poster style), and modernist sans-serifs (e.g., Futura, 1927). Still, Art Nouveau typefaces remained popular in advertising for certain luxury goods. In the 1960s–70s counterculture revival, fonts like Arnold Böcklin were rediscovered and associated with psychedelic posters, bringing Art Nouveau back into fashion. In short, Art Nouveau fonts were display-oriented, highly decorative, and tied to the broader artistic revolt against rigid academic styles. Fonts like Eckmann, Auriol, Bradley, and Arnold Böcklin remain the most recognizable products of the period.

French Typography History (Part 1)

By Carl Shank • August 24, 2026
Parisian Typography History Parisian typography refers broadly to the traditions of type design, printing, lettering, bookmaking, and graphic design that developed in Paris, particularly from the early days of European printing through the modern era. Paris became one of Europe's most important centers of typographic culture, alongside Venice, Rome, Antwerp, Amsterdam, London, and later Berlin. What makes Paris especially significant is that French typography repeatedly combined technical innovation with an unusually strong concern for aesthetics and cultural identity. The French Renaissance established some of the foundations of Western book typography, The Romain du Roi introduced a rationalized approach to letterform construction. Didot transformed the Roman into a highly elegant Modern style, while Parisian poster, fashion, and advertising design subsequently made typography an essential component of visual culture. For a study of European typography, Paris is therefore best viewed not simply as another printing center, but as one of the places where the craft of type, the art of the book, state patronage, intellectual culture, fashion, and graphic design repeatedly converged. Parisian typography in perspective The history of Parisian typography can therefore be understood as a progression through several major phases — Gothic manuscript tradition, to Renaissance humanism, to French Old Style Romans, to Royal/Rational typography, to Romain du Roi, to Didot Modern Roman, and to Industrial display typography. Another way to organize this history would be to note several recurring characteristics of French typography. French typographical elegance can be seen in the developing of refined proportions and carefully controlled letterforms. There was a strong early connection to Roman inscriptions and Renaissance typography. Mathematical order was especially evident in the Romain du Roi typography. Didot established high contrast in lettering and there was strong emphasis on readable, beautiful text typography. Ornamentation became particularly important in the Art Nouveau period. Display typography defined much of posters and advertising typography. Type was often treated as part of French intellectual culture, and Paris repeatedly absorbed international design movements.
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