7 design principles for better PowerPoint templates: service-based business edition
To the people running service-based businesses…how do you feel about PowerPoint presentations? Yep, responses are mixed, we know!
The reality is PowerPoint presentations are everywhere in business… think pitch decks, internal training, sales proposals, workshops, and conferences. Yet so many fall flat, not because the content isn’t valuable, but because the design makes it hard to absorb the content.
Just like advertising, PowerPoint design is about clear communication. When slides are cluttered, inconsistent, or visually overwhelming, it’s harder for your audience to stay focused and absorb the important information you have to share.
So, to start the year strong (and hopefully remove some presentation anxiety), we’re sharing our practical, designer-approved tips for creating PowerPoint templates that look professional, feel on-brand, and help your message land.
1. Start with a master slide (it will save you hours)
Consistency builds trust.
A master slide or template ensures:
Fonts stay consistent
Spacing and alignment feel polished
Your deck looks cohesive from start to finish
This also avoids visual chaos. When every slide looks different, your audience spends their energy adjusting, rather than listening.
Keeping slides consistent helps with focus, making sure your message is understood and remembered.
2. Don’t jam everything onto one slide
One of the most common mistakes we see people make is trying to say too much at once.
Just as ads struggle to convert when they contain too many messages, slides lose impact when they’re overloaded with text, icons, and visuals competing for our attention.
What to do instead:
Break up important information across multiple slides
Aim for one key message per slide
Give your audience space to process what they’re seeing
If a slide feels crowded, it probably is.
3. Use charts and graphs to visualise data
Remember: people skim. They don’t read slides word for word.
Using charts, graphs, and simple visuals helps your audience understand the information faster than blocks of text alone ever could.
This mirrors a key advertising principle: when words become heavy, visuals should do the work. We can draw on visual communication, to share ideas through pictures, shapes, colours, or designs, (rather than only relying on words).
Good visuals:
Highlight trends and comparisons
Reinforce your spoken message
Make complex data feel accessible
If you can show it instead of telling it, do that.
4. Choose light backgrounds on slides for readability
Colour plays a huge role in how content is received. Dark or overly colourful backgrounds can look impressive, but they often reduce readability, especially on projectors or smaller screens.
Best practice:
Use light or neutral backgrounds for most slides
Save bold colours for key feature or impact slides
Ensure strong contrast between text and background
This creates visual hierarchy and prevents visual fatigue.
5. Keep animations to a minimum
Animations can be helpful, but only when used intentionally.
Overusing animations is similar to overusing stock images in advertising: it distracts rather than enhances.
Design tip:
Stick to simple transitions
Avoid novelty animations
Let the content lead, not the effects
Clean, subtle movement feels modern and professional.
6. Include your logo and contact details
Presentations are often shared beyond the room they were created for.
Including your logo and contact details in the header or footer:
Keeps your brand visible
Makes it easy for viewers to follow up
Reinforces professionalism
Think of your slides as a shareable brand asset, not just a one-time presentation.
7. Apply the same rules as good advertising design
Many of the mistakes we see in presentations mirror common advertising errors:
Too many messages
Not enough white space
Poor colour choices
Lack of hierarchy
Overuse of generic visuals
Great design (whether for ads or slides) balances form and function. It guides the eye, highlights what matters most, and supports the message instead of competing with it.
Key points to remember
A well-designed PowerPoint template helps your audience understand, remember, and engage with your content. And in business, clarity is everything.
When you’re designing your PowerPoint templates, remember the 7 rules:
Start with a master slide
Don’t jam everything onto one slide
Use charts and graphs to visualise data
Choose light backgrounds on slides for readability
Keep animations to a minimum
Include your logo and contact details
Apply the same rules as good advertising design
If you’d rather leave the design work to the professionals, Harbrow Creations can create custom PowerPoint templates that align with your brand and communicate your message with impact.
Get in touch to start designing presentations that work as hard as you do.
Book a free call: https://www.harbrowcreations.com/book-a-free-call/
