Introduction

PowerPoint presentations are ubiquitous. In fact, as a part of the Microsoft Office suite, PowerPoint is one of the most popular pieces of software in the world. However, many people use it ineffectively or incorrectly. Not only is this bad for you, but it's also bad for your audience and your organization as a whole.

That's why I'm here to teach you how to use PowerPoint templates properly—and when not to use them at all!

When to use a template

  • When you're feeling lazy.

Let's face it: we all get tired of creating slides and presentations, especially when they are just going to be used as fillers by other people. Sometimes it's best to leave the design up to someone else and just concentrate on communicating your ideas and messages effectively through a well-designed template.

  • When your project requires little thought or work on your part, but still looks good.

Some non-designers aren't comfortable with PowerPoint because they feel like they have no control over how their presentation will look (or worse yet, that it won't look professional). Using a template can give you enough visual interest without having to put too much thought into things like color schemes or fonts—all you have to do is pick a few simple choices from the dropdown menus provided in most templates' themes/styles tabs.

When not to use a template

Have you ever dreamed of a PowerPoint slide that could do all the work for you? A template that would take care of your content and design, so all you had to do was fill in the blanks? Well, don't be fooled by their alluring promises. Templates are often more trouble than they're worth, especially if your presentation is important or complex.

Before we go any further, let's get one thing straight: templates aren't inherently bad. In fact, they can be extremely useful when used appropriately. Templates can save you time and effort when creating a simple presentation—like an annual report or sales pitch—and many templates have built-in design elements that make it easy for even novice users to create professional-looking slideshows without much effort at all (we'll talk about these later).

The problem comes when people use templates for presentations where they don't belong—and there are plenty of reasons why this isn't a good idea!

Use templates when you're putting together something quickly and just want to add some visual interest and design. Don't use them for high-profile events or for complex situations.

You don't need to be a designer to know that templates are not the way you want to go when you want an effective presentation. Templates tend to be bland, unoriginal, and dated. They can also be limiting and restrictive in terms of design options, making it difficult for your audience to easily navigate through your slides and absorb the content at hand.

For example, if you're putting together something quickly and just want to add some visual interest and design without having much control over how things will look or fit together (or if you're just doing this on the fly), then using PowerPoint templates is fine—just make sure they're appropriate for your audience and situation! In other words: use them when time is short and budget is low but never use them when high-profile events or complex situations call for unique presentations custom-designed by professionals who know what they're doing (in which case we would highly recommend contacting us).

Conclusion

When it comes down to it, templates are a great way to add some visual interest and design to your Powerpoint presentation. They can be helpful for quick projects when you just want some decent visuals without spending hours on them. However, if you're working on something more complex or high-profile then using a template is probably not the best choice. It all depends on what kind of project you're working on and how much time/money you have available!