How to Create a PowerPoint Presentation

Written by: Aditya Rana

---

May 14, 2024

What if I told you PowerPoint was not built for presentations but as a tool to brainstorm ideas? I know it sounds crazy now, but that’s exactly what Microsoft intended in 1987.

Fortunately, professionals saw a better use case — a way to make attention-grabbing presentations that effectively communicates information with employees, clients, and stakeholders.

A well-made (and well-delivered) presentation is key to organizational success as it informs, persuades, and facilitates decision-making.

In this post, I’ll show you how to create a PowerPoint presentation (for a better alternative to PowerPoint, use our Presentation Maker and presentation templates to make more effective slide decks).

 

Click to jump ahead:

• How to create a PowerPoint presentation
• Conclusion

How to create a PowerPoint presentation step-by-step

To create a PowerPoint presentation, follow these steps.

1. Open PowerPoint
2. Create a blank slide
3. Select a template
4. Choose your theme
5. Add a header and sub-header
6. Add your contact information (optional) 
7. Insert additional slides
8. Add text to each slide
9. Add images and videos
10. Insert graphs and charts  
11. Add transitions and animations
12. Use presenter notes
13. Arrange your slides 
14. Save your presentation: 
15. Deliver your presentation  

Open PowerPoint

The make a PowerPoint presentation, you first need to open the program.

To do this, click on the Start menu on your desktop and scroll through the list of apps until you find PowerPoint (hint: you can search for it and pin for faster access in the future).

If you’re using a Mac, click the Spotlight search bar on the top right of your screen and type PowerPoint.

Create a blank presentation

In PowerPoint, you can design presentations from scratch for maximum control over layout, color scheme, icons, and graphics.

Select a template

If you don’t have time or lack design skills to design a presentation from scratch, PowerPoint offers presentation templates for a quick start.

To find presentation templates, click on the New tab on the welcome screen and type in a keyword that relates to the style or theme of your presentation such as “business” or “education”.

Choose a theme

Make sure you pick a template that reflects the theme of your presentation to standardize appearance of slides in terms of fonts, colors, and layout.

To pick a theme for your presentation, consider the audience and the context of the presentation.

For example, a formal theme is apt for business presentations while something more colorful would suit educational presentations like this nature-themed template.