PowerPoint presentations thrive on images and graphics. Size, number, and color scheme are all crucial. These three tips will show you how to create impactful visuals with minimal effort and deliver superior presentations.

Less is more

You might be wondering how many images look good on a PowerPoint slide. Here's our tip: Don't place too many images at once. The presentation shouldn't turn into a photo album, but rather convey your ideas and points as memorably as possible.

One image/photo/diagram is ideal, two are the maximum. This allows you to effectively direct attention and avoid overwhelming your audience with too many visual impressions. The more stimuli we take in simultaneously, the more work our brain has to do. The result: we become distracted and fatigued more easily.

Size matters

The impact of an image is amplified or diminished by its size. A small image will go unnoticed, no matter how beautiful it may be. So think bigger. Make your presentation a Mercedes; leave the compact cars in the dust.

Try placing a photo or graphic covering the entire slide. You'll see: the presentation immediately becomes more attractive because our eyes have something to look at, something to discover. Nothing is more boring than unused, empty space on a slide that just stares us in the face. However, the slide background on which the image is placed should be in neutral colors, such as white, black, or gray.

Hollywood look in PowerPoint

Have you ever noticed that many movies appear in a very specific color scheme? Thrillers or horror films are often in cool blue tones, while more family-oriented and peaceful films enhance the atmosphere with warm tones like yellow, orange, and sepia.

Here's how to bring a movie atmosphere to your PowerPoint presentation:

Crop images to 16:9 format (for a true cinematic experience, use 21:9) and center them (with source information at the bottom of the image), using film-typical color palettes (blue tones, warm tones). This is especially worthwhile for those with some image editing experience.

If all of this seems like too much work, we recommend providers like Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, or Depositphotos. There you'll find a huge selection of atmospheric images that you can easily crop to 16:9 format after purchase.

Extra tip: Use metaphors

Do you have a rather dry topic for which there simply don't seem to be any good images? Images that are initially unrelated to the topic can be excellent for expressing metaphors and livening up the presentation.