The document provides guidance on creating effective PowerPoint presentations for SlideShare. It outlines essential design elements like fonts, colors, visual content including stock photos and icons. It then presents different slide layouts to mix these elements, such as cover slides, header slides, and bullet point lists. Finally, it offers technical tips for SlideShare, like using multiple slides to simulate animation and creating clickable links. The overall document serves as a template to help marketers design professional presentations for success on SlideShare.

1. The Essential
PowerPoint
Template for
KILLER
SLIDESHARE
PRESENTATIONS
A
publicatio
n of

2. INTRO
Designing a PowerPoint from scratch isn’t ideal for most marketers.
Though some of us may have some flair for design, it’s pretty daunting to look at the
default introduction title slide, knowing you have a ways to go before you have an
engaging, interactive presentation to upload to SlideShare.
To make sure you’re set up for SlideShare success, follow the steps in this template.
We’ll help you figure out the slide design elements, then combine them in different
layouts, and then take care of some SlideShare-specific technical skills. Bonus: We
even sprinkled in some extra resources in case you want to make your presentation
extra spiffy.

3. Want to skip ahead? Here’s what we’re going to cover.
DESIGN
5 … Fonts
6 … Colors
7 … Visual Content
8 … Stock Photos
9 … Vector Icons
10 … PowerPoint Objects
11 … Screenshots
LAYOUTS
13 … Cover
14 … Section Header
15 … Numbered List
16 … Checklist
17 … Bulleted List
18 … Quote
19 … Statistic
20 … Calls-to-Action
22 … Author Profile
SLIDESHARE
TECH TIPS
24 … “Animated” Slides
29 … Clickable Links
30 … Export as PDF

4. DESIGN
The essential visual elements that’ll
make your slides look gorgeous.
We’re going to walk you through best practices for creating engaging visual
content in a presentation. Then, you can use these design elements as
building blocks for the rest of your SlideShare presentation.

5. FONTS
1
Pick two different fonts to use throughout your presentation: One for
your headers, and one for your body text. Your header font should be
bold and eye-catching, and your body text font should be simple and
easy to read. (See how we’ve done it in this presentation?)
2
When trying to emphasize small text, use bold text, not italics. Bold
text is much easier to read when it’s small.
Want to spruce up your
Want to spruce up your
presentation with custom
presentation with custom
fonts? Here are 28 free fonts
fonts? Here are 28 free fonts
you can download.
you can download.

6. COLORS
1
Colors set the tone for your presentation and
help your readers digest information. Without
diving too deep into theory, one of the best
color combinations is the triadic color scheme
(shown on the right), which is three colors
located 120° from each other on the color wheel.
At the very least, you should have one or two
neutral colors and one stand-out color. Learn more about
the different types of color combinations in this helpful post
by KissMetrics.
2
The key is to make sure there is a big difference between the colors you pick to
help grab your viewers’ attention and direct their attention to where the important
information is.

7. VISUAL CONTENT
There are lots of ways to incorporate visual content into your
presentations without hiring a designer. Here are four ways can give
your presentations some visual pop:
•
•
•
•
Stock Photos
Vector Icons
Screenshots
PowerPoint Objects
In the next few slides, we’ll break down each type of visual
content as well as resources you can use to find and create
them.

8. VISUAL CONTENT
Stock Photos
Having engaging photos is crucial to your
SlideShare’s success -- but you need to make
sure you have exclusive rights to using them.
While you can always use Creative Commons
visuals, non-cheesy stock photos look much
more professional and can be used whenever
and wherever you like.
Tip: To receive 75 free stock
Tip: To receive 75 free stock
photos you can use in your
photos you can use in your
presentations, head here:
presentations, head here:
http://bitly.com/75StockSoci
http://bitly.com/75StockSoci
al
al

9. VISUAL CONTENT
Vector Icons
Notice that icon to the right? It’s called a vector icon: it’s
basically an icon that can be stretched to any size without
looking pixelated. Pretty cool, huh?
They are extremely useful for conveying abstract concepts –
think of things like email and social media that you can’t just
snap a picture of (or you can … but it’s not that eyecatching).
There are a few ways you can find or create vector icons:
•Find free or paid vector images online, such as here.
•Use special character fonts like Webdings, Wingdings, and
Symbols.

10. VISUAL CONTENT
PowerPoint Objects
Another way to create icons and objects is by using PowerPoint’s
shapes. Though there aren’t a ton of options available, they can
be a great way to hack together engaging icons and objects.
To spruce up your PowerPoint objects, select the object you
want to beautify, then in the menu, click “Format,” then “Shape”
in the drop down menu. A whole slew of options will appear
so you can customize your object:
This speech bubble is an example of aa
This speech bubble is an example of
PowerPoint shape. IfIfyou want to learn
PowerPoint shape. you want to learn
more ways to create visual content,
more ways to create visual content,
check out our visual content crash
check out our visual content crash
course here:
course here:
http://bit.ly/VisualContentCrashCours
http://bit.ly/VisualContentCrashCours
ee
•Fill Background: Under “Fill,” select a color in the drop down next to “Color.”
•Transparency : In that same tab, drag the “Transparency” slider to make it more transparent.
•Rotate: Under “3-D Rotation,” you can rotate an object on the X, Y, or Z axis.
•Glow: Under “Glow and Soft Edges,” you can select the color, size, and transparency of a halo around
your object.
•Shadow: Under “Shadow” you can choose the color, size, distance from object, transparency, and
angle of the shadow.

11. Screenshots
And of course, if you want to include any
images of software or websites, you’ll want to
incorporate them into your presentations.
You’ll take a screenshot outside of PowerPoint
(on a PC, push the “Print Screen” button; on a
Mac push “Command” + “Shift” + 3).
Once you have an image of your screen, you
can use PowerPoint to crop, edit, and
annotate the screenshot. For example, we
used an arrow found in the PowerPoint
Objects to highlight a blog post headline in the
example on the right.
He
He a
ad l
di
lin e
n
e
VISUAL CONTENT

12. LAYOUTS
10 different slide layouts you can
use in your own presentation.
The next step to creating a presentation of your very own is to mix and
match the previous design elements in different slide layouts. Here are 10
to get you started, but keep in mind that you should substitute your own
design flair when you use them.

13. INSERT TITLE.
Insert Subtitle: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

14. HEADER TITLE
SUBTITLE

15. NUMBERED LIST TITLE
1
Nulla lacus eros.
2
Facilisis vitae condimentum ut.
3
Aliquam accumsan neque.
4
Praesent elementum tortor non diam mollis.

16. CHECKLIST TITLE
Nulla lacus eros.
Facilisis vitae condimentum ut.
Aliquam accumsan neque.
Praesent elementum tortor non diam mollis.

17. BULLETED LIST TITLE
•
Lorem ipsum dolor sit
amet.
•
Sed do eiusmod tempor
incididunt ut labore.
•
Et dolore magna aliqua..
•
Ut enim ad minim veniam,
quis nostrud

18. “Duis eu velit
“Duis eu velit
facilisis, ornare dui
facilisis, ornare dui
eget, gravida
eget, gravida
neque.”
neque.”
AUTHOR NAME
Author Title

19. 55% of people in lacinia sit amet ligula sit amet
vestibulum.
Source: Company Name

20. Insert CTA Header
CTA Copy: Nullam laoreet,
turpis nec fermentum
pellentesque.
http://bit.ly/YourCustomURL

21. ATTEND EVENT NAME.
BOSTON, MA | AUGUST 19-22, 2013
Click here to learn more:
WWW.INBOUND.COM

22. BY AUTHOR.
@Twitter_Handle

23. SLIDESHARE
TECH TIPS
A few extra pointers to help you spruce up
your presentations for SlideShare.
Being successful on SlideShare isn’t as simple as uploading an existing PowerPoint
presentation – no matter how beautifully you’ve designed it. Here are three really
important tips to consider before you upload your presentation.

24. “ANIMATED” SLIDES
SlideShare does not support PowerPoint animation, so all of those smooth
entrances you planned for your text boxes and objects go out the window
once you upload your presentation.
… But you can still fake animation by creating a series of slides with a new
object appearing on each new slide.
Click through the next few slides to see how this might work.

25. “ANIMATED” SLIDES
SlideShare does not support PowerPoint animation, so all of those smooth
entrances you planned for your text boxes and objects go out the window
once you upload your presentation.
… But you can still fake animation by creating a series of slides with a new
object appearing on each new slide.
Click through the next few slides to see how this might work.
Ooooh! Here’s a
Ooooh! Here’s a
new object that just
new object that just
“appeared” on
“appeared” on
the right!
the right!

26. “ANIMATED” SLIDES
SlideShare does not support PowerPoint animation, so all of those smooth
entrances you planned for your text boxes and objects go out the window
once you upload your presentation.
… But you can still fake animation by creating a series of slides with a new
object appearing on each new slide.
Click through the next few slides to see how this might work.
… And another, on
… And another, on
the left!
the left!
Ooooh! Here’s a
Ooooh! Here’s a
new object that just
new object that just
“appeared” on
“appeared” on
the right!
the right!

27. “ANIMATED” SLIDES
SlideShare does not support PowerPoint animation, so all of those smooth
entrances you planned for your text boxes and objects go out the window
once you upload your presentation.
… But you can still fake animation by creating a series of slides with a new
object appearing on each new slide.
Click through the next few slides to see how this might work.
TIME-SAVING TIP
Ooooh! Here’s a
TIME-SAVING TIP Ooooh! Here’s a
Work backwards. Create the
Work
all the elementsin place. Then,
… And another, on timesfinal slide with animations to appear. Next, delete
new in place. Then,
… duplicatebackwards. on timesfinal want the all the elementsobjectthat just
And another, Create the you slide with animations to object that just
newappear. Next, delete
duplicateitithowever many
however many
you want the
the left!
“appeared” on
extra objects from earlier slides of the animation. This way, you’re not tryingon
the left!
“appeared” to
extra objects from earlier slides of the animation. This way, you’re not tryingto
position all the elements again and again as you progress through the animation.
position all the elements again and again as you progress through the animation.
the right!
the right!

28. CLICKABLE LINKS
If done right, you can include links in your
presentation that SlideShare users can click on
directly in the slide – perfect for showcasing
any calls-to-action or external resources.
If done wrong, you’ll have something in
SlideShare that looks like a link, but you can’t
actually click on it, which could severely
decrease your click-through rates.
The process for making clickable links in
SlideShare is different for Mac and PC, but you
can get a step-by-step guide for both platforms
in this HubSpot blog post.

29. EXPORT TO ADOBE PDF
If you are making a clickable aspect, you will
already have done this step, so you can skip to
the next slide.
If you don’t have links in your presentation,
you’ll need to make sure you export your
PowerPoint to PDF (ideally in Adobe Acrobat).
This way, make sure the quality and designs
are preserved once uploading to SlideShare.
To save your file as a PDF:
•Mac: Select File > Save As, then choose
“PDF” as format.
•PC: Select File > Save As Adobe PDF.

30. … AND
YOU’RE
DONE!
The PDF of your slides is ready
to be uploaded to SlideShare.
Go on, do it!
Once it’s uploaded, add a title
and description, and promote
it on your social media
channels to get exposure.
Then, sit back, relax, and
watch the traffic and leads
pour in!

31. So you have a great presentation and you
want it to drive more business …
can help with that.

32. What is
?
All-in-one inbound
marketing
software.Video Overview
Get a Demo
Video Overview
Get a Demo

33. RATE THIS CONTENT & HELP
HUBSPOT IMPROVE.
HubSpot believes in creating content for you (not for
us), so we’d like to hear what you thought of these
templates! Submit a 1-10 rating in a matter of
seconds by clicking here. Your feedback goes
directly to our content team.
SUBMIT RATING:
http://bit.ly/SlideShareTemplate