Anuj Malhotra April 14, 2017

This article guides you how to create a professional PowerPoint Template in 10 minutes that you can use for the next 10 years- without paying a penny to a professional designer.

Your Presentation Template is the face of your brand. When you are out there pitching to your target audience, investors, and external public, you ensure that your deck is neat and professional. What ensures this neatness, consistency and professionalism? A PowerPoint Template of course!

A presentation template not only defines the look of your cover slide but section header slides and text slides as well. It defines the colors, shapes, slide header and footer and placement of images and text so that the entire deck looks spick and span.

The cover slide is the most important slide- either you nail it or just lose the game there and then. It’s just not enough to add an image of your topic and the title over it and start presenting. That’s what amateurs do, not brands. You do not have to be a Fortune 500 company to be called a brand. Even if you are an individual speaker, YOU are a BRAND. And your PowerPoint Template better be saying that.

Are you thinking- How do I design a PowerPoint Template that matches my brand personality? Can I create one on my own or do I have to hire a professional designer and pay him hundreds of dollars? If you have the money to get a template designed from a design agency for all your in-house and external presentations, good enough. If you want to learn to do it on your own, then this article is for you.

7 PowerPoint Templates That You Can Use For Branding

PowerPoint Template #1- Company Introduction PPT Template

Company Introduction presentation is a big affair. Whether you are helping investors understand what your company stands for or suppliers understand the logistics or a new hiree fully understand the vision of your company, your presentation, needless to say, has to be sophisticated, crisp and clear. Further, it has to be visually stunning. We are visual learners (90% of information transmitted to brain is visual and 40% learners respond better to visual information than text alone). Keeping this fact in mind, we have created a visually-rich, modern Company Introduction Template for you. Here’s the cover slide and two sample text slides:

How to Create This Template in PowerPoint:

Step 1- Open Slide Master

Go to your PowerPoint Ribbon > click the View tab> click Slide Master

As soon as you click Slide Master, the Slide Master View opens in PowerPoint. Now what is this Slide Master? A Slide Master is your design template that stores all information about your brand colors, slide layouts, fonts, etc. (Read the complete article on Slide Master here). Why do you need this? It’s super convenient- rather than change colors on all 50 slides, just set the colors in Slide Master and all slides get formatted at once!

So, here’s how the Slide Master works:

Step 2- Add Company Logo & Design Element in Slide Master

2.1- Adding the Company Logo- Rather than wasting time in adding company logo on all slides, let’s add it in Master Slide and save ourselves time and energy. See the screenshot above- we added a sample logo “Go Global” on Slide 1 and it automatically got added to all slides!

2.2- Adding the Background Color- Say you do not want to keep white as the background color for all your text slides but a specific color. Add it in the Slide Master and it would automatically be replicated across all slides. Right click on Slide 1, click Format Background. A Format Background window will open on the right. Under Fill, choose the color of your choice, black in this case.

2.3- Adding the Design Element- To create an interesting header for our presentation slides, we added a ribbon on top in Slide 1. Align it to the centre (Format tab > Align Centre).

Step 3- Design the Title Slide

Many a times, as the team lead or the Sales Manager, you want to create an uneditable Title Slide so that your team members don’t mess it up. For this purpose, design the layout in Slide Master.

Go to the first slide under slide 1 i.e. the Title Slide.

Select the Hide Background Graphics option from the PowerPoint Ribbon.

Insert the image of your choice and cover the complete slide with it.

Insert a rectangular shape from the Shapes menu (under the Insert tab) and cover the full-screen image with it.

Right click on the rectangle and click Format Shape . From the Fill menu, select the black color and give it a transparency between 20-25%. Under Line , select the No Line radio button.

Add logo and the ribbon on the slide (since it got removed when we hid the background graphics for this slide).

Step 4- Customize the Presentation Fonts and Colors

Customize the fonts to be used (for heading and text) so that when team members type text, it automatically selects the font you had set. Open the Fonts menu from the PowerPoint Ribbon and click Customize Fonts (see the screenshot below).

A Create New Theme Fonts window will open on your screen. Specify the heading font and body font and click Save (see the screenshot below).

Similarly, create the theme colors for your presentation using the Colors menu (learn the steps to set up the theme colors).

Step 5- Design the Section Header Slide

The third slide under Slide Master is the Section Header slide. Follow the same steps as you had followed for designing the Title Slide:

Click Hide Background Graphics .

Add the required image over the complete slide canvas.

Add a transparent layer over the image.

Insert the company logo and ribbon on the slide.

Insert 2 lines from the Shapes menu.

Step 6- Close Master View and Insert Layouts Where Needed

Your template is ready. You can close the slide master. When you are working on your presentation and want to access a particular slide (say a Section Header slide), simply click on the Layout menu under the Home tab (see the screenshot below) and use the slide you need.

P.S. Don’t forget to save the template you have created as a “PowerPoint Template” file. Click Save As and choose the PowerPoint Template option from the Save As Type menu. The presentation template you have created will be saved as a .potx file which you can then send to all members of the organization!

PowerPoint Template #2- Introducing Yourself PowerPoint Template

If you are creating your visual resume or a self introduction PPT, it has to be attention-grabbing. It should reflect your personality and trust us- if you were planning to put just bullet points in your slideshow, there couldn’t be any worse impression than this.

Let the Title Slide create an immediate impression in the audience’s mind and that impression better be great. Identify your strengths, your passion and your goals. Use the colors that evoke your qualities (understand Colors and their Psychological Properties). The Section Header slides should fuel more curiosity in the audience to know about you and the text slides that follow should fulfill those expectations.

To nail your self-introduction presentation, we have created this awesome PowerPoint template for you:

How to Create This PowerPoint Template:

The steps remain the same, so we’ll go over them quickly:

Open Slide Master Design the Master Slide: In Slide Master (Slide 1), create the design that you’ll use for all text slides. In the above template, that includes two lines and two overlapping circles which make the slide header.

Since you are crafting a self-introduction PPT, it would be prudent to add the links to your social media accounts and your email address, either on the last slide or on all slides. If you are sending the presentation as an attachment to a company, they can access your social media accounts from within the slide which will create a great impression.

To make your social media accounts accessible on all text slides, add it in Slide Master. Add the icons of the respective accounts, go to the Insert tab, click Hyperlink and add the link in the Address field (see the screenshot below).

When you play the presentation in slideshow mode and hover on these links, you’ll find them clickable. Adding the social media accounts as a footer in Slide Master makes it a part of all slides in your presentation. So much copy-paste work saved!

3. Design the Title Slide: As you already know by now, the first slide under Slide Master is the Title Slide. Select it and follow these steps:

Click Hide Background Graphics on the PowerPoint Ribbon.

Insert a full-screen image that reflects your interests or hobbies.

Insert an oval shape from the Shapes menu (Insert tab).

Press Shift to draw a perfectly symmetrical circle.

Press Ctrl & Shift and drag the circle to left or right to have a duplicate circle.

Overlap the circles a bit for an artistic effect.

Right click on the circles > Format Shape > Fill- choose the color of your choice > Line- No line.

Do not add text here so that your team members or you can edit the text later in normal mode.

4. Design the Section Header slide: Select the Section Header slide (the third slide under Slide Master). Click Hide Background Graphics. Simply keep the slide blank and add the circles (used in the title slide but smaller in size) on the right half.

Remember: When you click Hide Background Graphics on the Title Slide and Section Header Slide, the header and footer disappears. If you want your social media accounts to be visible on these two slides as well, copy from the Slide Master and paste the same on these two slides.

PowerPoint Template #3- Flat Design PowerPoint Template

The simplest PowerPoint Template to create and all the most trending design of our time- Flat Design. Say goodbye to 3D objects, shadows and textures. Flat Design is simple and sophisticated- something you and I can create and still look professional. All we have to do is use flat shapes and bright colors- not difficult, right?

Here’s a Flat Design PowerPoint Template that you can use for any kind of presentation- company or personal:

How to Create This Template in PowerPoint:

Open Slide Master Create the Master Slide- In the Slide Master (Slide 1), add four thin rectangles/lines in different bright colors. Choose gray as the presentation background or let it be white so that the colors you use on slide stand out. Create the Title Slide- Don’t forget to Hide Background Graphics in Slide Master when working on the Title Slide. Choose a flat color for the Title Slide. We chose blue-gray as it is a professional color and can’t go wrong. Add the 4 thin rectangles/lines filled with a bright, flat color. We forgot to add a logo but you can add that to the Slide Master and it would automatically appear on all your slides. Create the Section Header slide- That’s the third slide under Slide Master; hope you haven’t forgotten that! Add a rectangular shape that covers almost 70% of the slide and give it the flat blue-gray color used in the Title Slide. You can add the 4 rectangles/lines to ensure consistency in all slides.

That’s it! Didn’t we tell you the Flat Design PowerPoint Template would be the simplest to create!

PowerPoint Template #4- Gradient Background PowerPoint Template

Since almost every presenter would most likely go for a flat design, you can do something different and creative with your presentation template. How about using an eye-catchy Gradient Background that will instantly grab audience’s attention and make your PPT look like an art!

Just a little care has to be taken while doing this i.e. in choosing a nice gradient that matches with your brand personality and does not affect the legibility of content. If that is taken care of, then this template is probably the best option to go for.

How to Create This Template in PowerPoint:

Open Slide Master. Create the Master Slide- Right click on Slide Master, click Format Background. A Format Background window will open on the right. Next, follow these steps to create the gradient background:

Under Fill , select the Gradient fill radio button.

Type- Linear

Direction- Linear Diagonal- Bottom Right to Top Left

Keep 2 Gradient stops

Gradient Stop 1- Color- Green (use the Eyedropper tool or click More Colors in the Color menu and enter this RGB code: Red-72, Green-206, Blue-178). Position- 0%.

Gradient Stop 2- Color- Turquoise (use the Eyedropper tool or click More Colors in the Color menu and enter this RGB code: Red-78, Green-194, Blue-225). Keep its position at 77%.

Also, create the slide header by adding a straight line from the Shapes menu and an inverted triangle in the centre of the line. You can add your company logo in the slide footer in the bottom right corner.

3. Create the Title Slide- You may want to add an image in the Title Slide. So, click Hide Background Graphics. Insert the image you like. Insert a rectangle over the image and cover the complete image with the rectangle. Right click on the rectangle, click Format Shape. Under Fill, click Gradient Fill (PowerPoint will automatically pick the gradient you had last created). Give both the colors a slight transparency of 15-20% so that your image can also be seen. Under Line, select No Line. You can add the company logo again on the title slide since the same would have been removed when you clicked Hide Background Graphics.

4. Create the Section Header Slide- Click Hide Background Graphics. Simply copy the header used on Slide Master and keep it vertical. Add an oval shape from the Shapes menu. Press Shift to draw a symmetrical circle. This space can be used to later insert an icon. Insert the company logo on this slide too.

Close the Master View and your template is ready!

Download for Free 7 Awesome Gradient Backgrounds

PowerPoint Template #5- Our Portfolio PowerPoint Template

If you need to create a portfolio to showcase the works of your company or your portfolio, then we recommend you to create a PPT template that is in shades of gray (no, not 50 shades- a single shade is enough). Gray looks very elegant which is exactly the look and feel you want to give to your portfolio. Here’s a template that you can recreate for your portfolio deck too:

How to Create Portfolio Template in PowerPoint:

Open Slide Master. Create the Master Slide- As you can see in the text slide above, the design has been kept very minimal. A gray background and light gray lines for the header has been created. The company logo was kept in the bottom right. Create the Title Slide- A collage of all projects scattered on the corners and blank space in middle to place your content would be a great presentation opener. Make sure to use your branding colors in the headings and shapes. Create the Section Header Slide- Insert a diamond shape from the Shapes menu. Add another diamond, a little smaller in size and place it in the centre of the last diamond. Select both the shapes > go to the Format tab > open the Align menu > click Align Centre and Align Middle for the perfect alignment. In the inner diamond, insert a relevant picture (click Format Shape and select the Picture Fill radio button).

Your template is ready- neat and professional. Without spending a penny!

PowerPoint Template #6- Leadership PowerPoint Template

If you want your presentation to exude authority and look totally apart from any of your competitors, your PowerPoint Template has to immediately create a striking effect on the audience. The title slide has to be head turning and unforgettable. Whether you are presenting on leadership or giving a motivational talk, we suggest you try this template that is sure to create that “wow” effect.

Here’s the template we are talking about- it uses the split image effect that creates an immediate impression of being designed by a top-level designer (but has been designed by you):

How to Create This Template in PowerPoint:

Open Slide Master. Create the Master Slide- The text slide has been kept simple. A black background fill has been given to the slide while the company logo has been added to the top left. Create the Title Slide- Go to the first slide under Slide Master. Follow these stepwise to create the split-image effect:

Right click on the slide and click Format Background. Click the Fill menu and select the Picture or texture fill radio button. Locate the file on your system and open the same. We used a lion’s picture to showcase leadership.

Insert a rectangle (Insert tab > Shapes menu) and cover the complete image with it. Give it a solid black fill.

Insert rounded rectangles (Insert tab > Shapes menu). Drag the yellow handle on the rounded rectangle towards right to give a more rounded effect (see the screenshot below). Place 4-5 rounded rectangles over the black rectangle.

Select all the rounded rectangles, right click, click Format Shape. Select the Slide background fill radio button (see the screenshot below). The rounded rectangles will get filled with the image we had placed in the background. Pretty cool, isn’t it?

Create the Section Header Slide- The steps are the same. To make the Section Header look similar yet a little different, we simply made the image black and white. When you have successfully inserted the image in the section header slide using the Picture or texture fill , select the Picture tab in the Format Background window. Open Picture Color > Presets > choose the black and white option (see the screenshot below).

Next, follow the same steps- add a rectangle over the image and give it a black fill. Copy the rounded rectangles from the Title Slide and paste it on the section header slide. That’s it, your complete PowerPoint Template is ready to use!

PowerPoint Template #7- Human Resource/Career Planning PowerPoint Template

If you are a human resource professional or a business professional creating a presentation on the workforce, say career planning, we have designed a creative presentation template for you using basic shapes in PowerPoint. The template allows allow you to use multiple images in the Title Slide without making it look messy. This is the PPT template you can use for your company or personal use:

How to Create This Template in PowerPoint:

Open Slide Master. Create the Master Slide- We have created a simple header and footer for this template. Give the slides a light gray background. Next, add a rectangle from the Shapes menu and extend it to cover the complete slide width. Make the rectangle thin so that it appears a thick line. Give it a dark gray fill with no outline. Copy this shape and place it on the footer too. Create the Title Slide- Insert a Hexagon from the Shapes menu (Insert tab > Shapes > Basic Shapes > Hexagon). Right click on the shape and select Format Shape . Under Shape Options, choose the Size & Properties tab (see the screenshot below), go to the Rotation field and type 270. Also, add another hexagon, smaller in size, inside the bigger hexagon.

Now, we need to fill the inside hexagon with an image. If we choose Picture or texture fill, we won’t get satisfactory results as the image will be rotated too! Here’s a PowerPoint hack to overcome this problem:

Go to the Insert tab and click Pictures to insert the image.

Place the smaller hexagon over the image

Select the image first, press Ctrl and select the hexagon too

Go to the Drawing Tools- Format tab

Open the Merge Shapes menu

Click Intersect

Place this hexagon image inside the bigger hexagon. Likewise, add two more hexagons- smaller in size towards its right (basically 4 since we have a hexagon enclosed within another hexagon). See this screenshot for clearer understanding:

Follow the same steps to intersect the image and the smaller hexagons.

Create the Section Header Slide- The section header slide is an exact replica of the Title Slide. Just copy all the hexagons from the title Slide, group them using Ctrl + G and reduce the size to have the section header ready!

Phew!!! With this, we come to the end of designing 7 professional PowerPoint Templates. If you practiced creating all seven, it must have been a lot of PowerPoint for one day. If you just chose the one you liked the most, we would love to know which one. Share your feedback in the comments below.

Face any trouble somewhere in designing these? Post a comment and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. If you liked the article, please share it with your followers. Here’s a pre-populated tweet to make it easier for you: