how to write quotes in a presentation

Blog > Powerful Quotes for your PowerPoint Presentations

Powerful Quotes for your PowerPoint Presentations

07.24.20   •  #powerpointtips.

One of the most powerful ways to begin a presentation is to start by sharing a influential and morable quote that relates to the message of your talk. This can loosen up the beginning, consciously encourage important things while speaking or end the presentation with a meaningful conclusion and underline the main topic again.

This will bring liveliness and power to your presentation and create a more pleasant environment for your audience!

Quotes can be funny, inspirational, profound, successful, motivational, meaningless or basically everything! The most important thing is that they fit the today´s topic, correspond to the situation. This means, that they are appropriate and reinforce the actual theme.

If you are looking for great lines you can use in your PowerPoint or other presentations, you are perfectly right here! Read the following article to get inspired and to find a suitable citation you can use for your speech in school, work, business or anywhere and to leave an unforgettable impression on your presentation.

To save time, we have already created PowerPoint Templates below, which you can download for free!

According to time:

Quotes for Beginning

Quotes while presenting, quotes for ending.

According to category:

In case you need more specific citations, have a look at different sections of quotes:

Inspirational / Motivational

With quotations to open your presentation you can represent yourself in a great authentic and relaxed way. The audience gets an exciting insight into the upcoming topic and in the best case can relate with the citation and thus build a sympathetic bond to you as the presenter. And all this is achieved by just one simple sentence.

Powerful quotes to start your presentation

• "The secret of getting ahead is getting started." - Mark Twain
• "If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough." – Albert Einstein
• "Words may inspire but action creates change." – Simon Sinek
• "Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet." - Bob Marley
• "A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him." – David Brinkley
• "Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games." - Babe Ruth | Baseball Legend
• "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." - Bill Gates
• "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently." - Warren Buffett
• "The golden rule for every business man is this: Put yourself in your customer’s place." - Orison Swett Marden
• "You can't blame gravity for falling in love." - Albert Einstein

Using powerful citations while speaking makes your presentation much more exciting and memorable. A meaningful quotation gives your words much more power and emphasis and can additionally emphasize important things. Furthermore, if a listener hears a mentioned citation of your presentation one more time, he will most likely remember you.

Powerful quotes to reinforce essential topics

• "Some entrepreneurs think how can I make a lot of money? But a better way is to think how can I make people’s lives a lot better? If you get it right, the money will come." - Richard Branson
• "When Henry Ford made cheap, reliable cars people said, ‘Nah, what’s wrong with a horse?’ That was a huge bet he made, and it worked." - Elon Musk
• "Please think about your legacy, because you’re writing it every day." – Gary Vaynerchuck
• "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing it is stupid." - Albert Einstein
• "When you find an idea that you can’t stop thinking about, that’s probably a good one to pursue." – Josh James
• "Don’t worry about failure, you only have to be right once." – Drew Houston
• "You just have to pay attention to what people need and what has not been done." - Russel Simmmons
• "If people like you they’ll listen to you, but if they trust you they’ll do business with you." – Zig Ziglar
• "Don’t build links. Build relationships." – Rand Fishkin
• "There is no great genius without some touch of madness." – Seneca

With citations you have the opportunity to clarify the topic just dealt with in one sentence and it is highly recommended to use this chance. Your audience will remember the end best, as it is the shortest, so it should be well chosen and memorable. It should also match your personality as well as the theme and be catchy.

Powerful quotes to close your presentation

• "100 percent of the shots you don’t take, don’t go in." – Wayne Gretzky | Hockey Legend
• "When I’m old and dying. I plan to look back on my life and say ‘Wow, an adventure’ not, ‘Wow, I sure felt safe.’" – Tom Preston Werner
• "I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been." – Wayne Gretzy
• "It isn’t what we say or think that denies us, but what we do." – Jane Austen
• "Get action. Do things; be sane; don’t fritter away your time; create, act, take a place wherever you are and be someone; get action." – Theodore Roosevelt
• "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." – Barack Obama
• "You have to go wholeheartedly into anything in order to achieve anything worth having." – Frank Lloyd Wright
• "It always seems impossible until it’s done." – Nelson Mandela
• "I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work." – Thomas Edison
• "If you think you are too small to make an impact try going to bed with a mosquito in the room." - Ekaterina Walter

Best citations by category

• "Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value." - Albert Einstein
• "Stop chasing the money and start chasing the passion." - Tony Hsieh
• "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." - Walt Disney
• "Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere." - Albert Einstein
• "He who only does what he can will always remain what he is." - Henry Ford

• "Success is like being pregnant, everybody congratulates you, but nobody knows how many times you got fucked." - Author unknown
• "If you want your children to listen, try talking softly to someone else." - Ann Landers
• "The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
• "Anger is a hot coal that you hold in your hand while waiting to throw it at someone else." - Buddha

• "Either you run the day or the day runs you." - Jim Rohn
• "It's the will not the skill." - Jim Tunney
• "Happiness is the real sense of fulfillment that comes from hard work." - Joseph Barbara
• "I have never done that before so I should definitely be able to do it!" - Pippi Longstocking
• "The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work." - Harry Golden

• "Paying attention to simple little things that most men neglect makes a few men rich." - Henry Ford
• "The prize for success is that it unlocks harder challenges with more at stake for next time." - Author unknown
• "The opposite to good design is always bad design. There is no such thing as no design." - Adam Judge

• "A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do." - Bob Dylan
• "The whole secret of a successful life is to find out what is one’s destiny to do, and then do it." - Henry Ford
• "If you want to be happy, be happy." - Leo Tolstoy
• "So far you have survived 100% of your worst days." - Author unknown
• "Great Lessons are only learned when the stakes are high." - Georgina Hobart

• "When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity." - John F. Kennedy
• "When in doubt, don't." - Benjamin Franklin
• "The higher we are placed, the more humbly we should walk." - Marcus Tullius Cicero
• "Easy choises, hard life. Hard choices easy life." - Jerzy Gregorek
• "What you begrudge others will be withheld from yourself." - Author unknown

Now you have 60 quotes you can incorporate into your presentation to stand out from the everyday, all-too-familiar phrases that everyone knows.

But remember: Under no circumstances should they be discriminatory, racist or offensive, so you need to make yourself known in advance through your audience.

Leave your personal impression and convince your audience with simple but incredibly strong lines!

Free PowerPoint Templates

In addition, we have already created some PowerPoint templates for you, which you can download for free. Simply replace the existing quotes or image if you want and adapt the slides to your presentation!

What are good quotes for starting a presentation?

By opening your presentation with a quote you can represent yourself in an authentic way. The audience gets an exciting insight into the upcoming topic and in the best case can relate with the quote and thus build a sympathetic bond to you as the presenter. And all this is achieved by just one simple sentence. Here is a list of good quotes to begin a presentation .

What are good quotes for ending a presentation?

With citations you have the opportunity to clarify the topic just dealt with in one sentence and it is highly recommended to use this chance. Your audience will remember the end best, so it should be well chosen and memorable. It should also match your personality as well as the theme and be catchy. Here is a list of good quotes to finish a presentation .

What are powerful quotes for a PowerPoint presentation?

One of the most powerful ways to begin a presentation is to start by sharing a influential and memorable quote that relates to the message of your talk. This can loosen up the beginning, consciously encourage important things while speaking or end the presentation with a meaningful conclusion and underline the main topic again. We have collected 60 powerful quotes for your PowerPoint presentation .

Related articles

About the author.

Philipp Angerer

Philipp is a creative supporter at SlideLizard in marketing and design. There he uses his imagination and provides creative freshness, also in blog articles.

Get 1 Month for free!

Do you want to make your presentations more interactive.

With SlideLizard you can engage your audience with live polls, questions and feedback . Directly within your PowerPoint Presentation. Learn more

Top blog articles More posts

PowerPoint Quiz Templates - 10 free Quiz Designs

Who Wants to be a Millionaire - PowerPoint Quiz Template

Get started with Live Polls, Q&A and slides

for your PowerPoint Presentations

The big SlideLizard presentation glossary

An e-lecture is a lecture that is held online. Many schools and universities offer e-lectures as technical opportunities improve.

Notes Page view

The Notes Page view in PowerPoint shows a smaller version of the slide with a small area for notes underneath. In the presentation every slide has it's own space for notes. During the presentation the notes do not appear on screen. They are just visible in the presentation mode.

.pptm file extension

A .pptm file is a macro-enabled presentation created by MS PowerPoint which contains slides with layout, images, texts and embedded macros.

Title Slide

The title slide is the first slide of a presentation. It usually contains a title and a subtitle.

Be the first to know!

The latest SlideLizard news, articles, and resources, sent straight to your inbox.

- or follow us on -

We use cookies to personalize content and analyze traffic to our website. You can choose to accept only cookies that are necessary for the website to function or to also allow tracking cookies. For more information, please see our privacy policy .

Cookie Settings

Necessary cookies are required for the proper functioning of the website. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information about the number of visitors, etc.

Resources | Storytelling | Strategy

50 powerful quotes to start your presentation.

Written by Kai Xin Koh

When was the last time you attended a conference where the speaker didn’t just say: “Oh hi, my name is XYZ and today, I’ll be speaking to you about Topic X”?

Great stories possess riveting narrative arcs that begin strong and end strong. We’ve written at length about some of the best ways to end your presentation , but how does one design a presentation to start without sounding too cliche?

One of the most powerful ways to begin a presentation is to start by sharing a powerful and memorable quote that relates to the message of your talk.

Powerful quotes have so much power on your presentation. Not only does it help reinforce your message, it also helps boost your credibility since it implied the quote is ‘agreeing’ with your statement.

Take this TED talk by Andrew Solomon for example. Notice how he skilfully uses a quote from a book by Emily Dickinson to set the stage for his numerous anecdotes regarding the topic on Depression in his presentation:

Hence, if you’re looking to follow suit and start your next presentation strong with a powerful quote, we’ve got you covered. Here, we compiled a list of 50 quotes that you can use to boost your next presentation.

50 Powerful Quotes To Start Your Presentation:

1)   “ The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” –  Mark Twain

2) “Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games.” –  Babe Ruth

3) “ If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” –  Albert Einstein

4) “ If you’re too comfortable, it’s time to move on. Terrified of what’s next? You’re on the right track.” –  Susan Fales Hill

5) “ Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” –  Bill Gates

6) “ You can’t look at the competition and say you’re going to do it better. You have to look at the competition and say you’re going to do it differently.” –  Steve Jobs

7) “ Make every detail perfect and limit the number of details to perfect.” –  Jack Dorsey

8) “ Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it.” –  Oprah Winfrey

9) “ Your smile is your logo, your personality is your business card, how you leave others feeling after an experience with you becomes your trademark.” –  Jay Danzie

10)  “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” –  Warren Buffett

11)  “Some entrepreneurs think how can I make a lot of money? But a better way is to think how can I make people’s lives a lot better? If you get it right, the money will come.” –  Richard Branson

12)  “When Henry Ford made cheap, reliable cars people said, ‘Nah, what’s wrong with a horse? ’ That was a huge bet he made, and it worked.” –  Elon Musk

13)  “There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed.” –  Ray Goforth

14)   “Keep on going, and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I never heard of anyone ever stumbling on something sitting down.” –  Charles F. Kettering

15)  “People rarely buy what they need. They buy what they want.”   – Seth Godin

16)  “Please think about your legacy, because you’re writing it every day.”   – Gary Vaynerchuck

17)  “The golden rule for every business man is this: Put yourself in your customer’s place.” –  Orison Swett Marden

18)  “A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.”   –  David Brinkley

19)  “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing it is stupid.”   –  Einstein

20)  “The problem with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.”   –  Lilly Tomlin

21)  “ When you run a part of the relay and pass on the baton, there is no sense of unfinished business in your mind. There is just the sense of having done your part to the best of your ability. That is it. The hope is to pass on the baton to somebody who will run faster and run a better marathon.”   – N. R. Narayana Murthy

22)  “Whatever you’re thinking, think bigger.” – Tony Hsieh

23)  “When you find an idea that you can’t stop thinking about, that’s probably a good one to pursue.”   – Josh James

24)  “What would you do if you’re not afraid?” –  Sheryl Sandberg

25)  “Don’t worry about failure, you only have to be right once.”   – Drew Houston

26)  “When I’m old and dying. I plan to look back on my life and say ‘Wow, an adventure’ not, ‘Wow, I sure felt safe’” – Tom Preston Werner

27)  “80% of your sales comes from 20% of your clients.”   – Vilfredo Pareto

28)  “You just have to pay attention to what people need and what has not been done.”   – Russell Simmons

29)  “We are really competing against ourselves, we have no control over how other people perform.”   – Pete Cashmore

30)  “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”   – Wayne Gretzy

31)  “Always remember, your focus determines your reality.”   – George Lucas

32)  “If people like you they’ll listen to you, but if they trust you they’ll do business with you.”   – Zig Ziglar

33)  “Words may inspire but action creates change.”   – Simon Sinek

34)  “It isn’t what we say or think that denies us, but what we do.”   – Jane Austen

35)  “Get action. Do things; be sane; don’t fritter away your time; create, act, take a place wherever you are and be someone; get action.”   – Theodore Roosevelt

36)  “There is only one boss. The customer.” – Sam Walton

37)  “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” – Barack Obama

38)  “You have to go wholeheartedly into anything in order to achieve anything worth having.” –  Frank Lloyd Wright

39)  “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela

40)  “Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.” – Bob Marley

41)  “There is no great genius without some touch of madness.”    – Seneca

42)  “If you think you are too small to make an impact try going to bed with a mosquito in the room.” – Ekaterina Walter

43)   “If you just work on stuff that you like and you’re passionate about, you don’t have to have a master plan with how things will play out.” – Mark Zuckerberg

44)   “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” –  Thomas Edison

45)  “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.”  – Abraham Lincoln

46)  “Don’t build links. Build relationships.”   – Rand Fishkin

47)   “100 percent of the shots you don’t take, don’t go in.”   –  Wayne Gretzky, Hockey Legend

48)  “If you’ve got an idea, start today. There’s no better time than now to get going. That doesn’t mean quit your job and jump into your idea 100 percent from day one, but there’s always small progress that can be made to start the movement.” – Kevin Systrom, Founder of Instagram

49)   “Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.”   –  Jack Welch, Former CEO of GE

50)    “You must be very patient, very persistent. The world isn’t going to shower gold coins on you just because you have a good idea. You’re going to have to work like crazy to bring that idea to the attention of people. They’re not going to buy it unless they know about it.”  –   Herb Kelleher, Founder of Southwest Airlines.

There you have it!

Phew! – now you have an additional 50 powerful quotes that you can add in your presentation arsenal. Leave an unforgettable impression on your presentation with these quotes starting today!

Comment down your favourite quote. And let us know if you have any that we didn’t add to the list!

Article Written By: Kai Xin Koh

You may also like….

Val Yap: Delivering Success Through Effective Communication

by Kai Xin Koh

Success is not dictated by the hard work of one person alone. A great leader is also a great story-teller because effective communication is the foundation of any successful organisation.

Infographic Template Editor Site Review: Venngage

Introduction If you’re...

How to Compress PowerPoint Presentations in 2023 : Complete Guide For Mac and Windows

by Eugene Cheng

Imagine this - it’s late at night and you’re finishing up your last few slides for your big presentation tomorrow. You’ve done your final check and...

Sign Up for Winning With Stories!

• First Name *
• Name This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

How To Display Quotes In PowerPoint? (A Step-By-Step Guide)

Are you looking to make an impact with your next PowerPoint presentation? One great way to do this is to include quotes that are meaningful and relevant to your message.

Not sure how to make sure the quotes are displayed effectively? This step-by-step guide will show you how to make the most of your quotes in your PowerPoint presentation, from choosing the right font and font size to adding background images and animations for extra impact.

Read on to discover how to make your quotes stand out and leave a lasting impression on your audience.

Table of Contents

Short Answer

To display quotes in PowerPoint, you can add them to a slide as text or as an image.

To add it as text, type or paste the quote into a text box on the slide.

To add it as an image, search for an image of the quote online, download it, and add it to the slide.

You can also use a template to quickly add a quote to a slide.

The Basics of Displaying Quotes in PowerPoint

PowerPoint presentations are a great way to showcase quotes, as they can be used to emphasize key points or to add visual appeal.

To display quotes in PowerPoint, there are several steps to consider.

First, it is important to pick the right font and font size that will make the quote stand out.

Depending on the quote, different font types can be used to convey different messages.

For example, a more formal quote may be presented in a serif font, while a casual quote may be presented in a sans serif font.

Additionally, the font size should be adjusted to ensure the quote is visible to the audience.

Next, the quote should be added to the slide, either as text or as an image.

If the quote is added as text, consider adding a background image or color to further highlight the quote.

This will help the quote stand out and draw attention to the message.

Adding an image of the quote can also be effective, as it can add a unique visual element to the presentation.

Finally, consider adding animations or transitions to the slide to draw attention to the quote.

Animations can be used to make the quote appear on the slide with a flourish, while transitions can be used to transition to the quote with a subtle effect.

Both of these features can help bring the quote to life and make it more memorable to the audience.

By following these steps, it is possible to display quotes in PowerPoint effectively and in a way that will capture the audiences attention.

With the right design elements, quotes can be an effective way to capture the audiences attention in a PowerPoint presentation.

Choosing a Font and Font Size

When it comes to displaying quotes in PowerPoint, the font and font size you choose can play a major role in creating an engaging presentation.

When selecting a font, youll want to choose one that will make the quote stand out and be easily readable for your audience.

A sans serif font, such as Arial or Calibri, is generally a good choice, as they are simple and easy to read.

For font size, youll want to make sure that the quote is large enough to be easily readable from a distance.

A good rule of thumb is to choose a font size that is at least 24 points.

Additionally, you may want to consider using bold or italics to further emphasize the quote.

By carefully selecting a font and font size, you can ensure that the quote stands out and can be easily read by your audience.

Adding the Quote to the Slide

Adding the quote to the slide is an important step in creating an effective PowerPoint presentation.

First, you need to select a font and font size that is appropriate for the quote.

The font should be easily readable and the size should be large enough to stand out.

If the quote is particularly long, you may need to use a smaller font size to fit it all onto the slide.

Once you’ve selected the font and font size, you can add the quote to the slide.

You can either add the quote as text or as an image, depending on your preferences.

If you choose to add the quote as text, you can use a variety of formatting options to further emphasize the quote.

For example, you can add a drop shadow or a background color to the text.

If you choose to add the quote as an image, you can use a variety of image editing tools to manipulate the image to make it look more aesthetically pleasing.

Finally, you can add animations or transitions to the slide to draw attention to the quote.

Animations and transitions can help keep the audience engaged and can help them focus on the quote.

By combining the right design elements, you can create an eye-catching and effective quote slide for your PowerPoint presentation.

Enhancing the Quote with a Background

Adding a background to your PowerPoint slide can help to further emphasize the quote and make it stand out.

If youre using a background image, make sure it is not too distracting or busy, as this will take away from the quote.

Depending on the quote and the presentation, you may want to choose a subtle background that complements the tone of the quote, or a bolder image that will draw the audiences attention.

You can also add a background color to the slide.

If youre using an image for the quote, you may want to choose a background color that will contrast with the image.

If youre using text for the quote, try using a color that will make the text stand out.

For example, if the quote is in black, you may want to choose a lighter background color such as light blue or yellow.

If youre displaying more than one quote on a slide, you may want to consider adding different backgrounds for each quote.

This will help to keep the audience engaged and make each quote stand out.

Finally, consider adding animations or transitions to the slide.

Animations and transitions can be used to draw attention to the quote and help to keep the audience engaged.

For example, you can add a fade-in animation to the quote when it appears, or choose a transition that will move the quote across the screen.

Animations and Transitions for Extra Impact

Adding animations or transitions to a slide can make the quote stand out even more.

Using animations or transitions can draw attention to the quote and help emphasize its importance.

For example, you could add a simple fade-in animation to make the quote appear gradually on the screen.

You could also add a transition effect, such as a dissolve or a swipe, to make the quote appear more gradually.

For more impact, you could also use motion paths to move the text around the screen or add dynamic effects like spin or zoom to give the quote a more dramatic effect.

Finally, you can also use the slide transition timing to draw attention to the quote by having it pause for a few moments before transitioning to the next slide.

With the right animations and transitions, you can make sure that your quote stands out and captures the audiences attention.

Tips for Making the Quote Stand Out

When it comes to displaying quotes in PowerPoint presentations, it is important to make sure that the quote stands out amongst the other elements on the slide.

To do this, you should choose a font and font size that are eye-catching and draw attention to the quote.

Bold and italicized fonts can be used to emphasize the quote and make it stand out.

Additionally, you can use a different font color than the other elements on the slide in order to make the quote pop.

You can also use a larger font size for the quote compared to the other text on the slide.

Finally, adding a background image or color behind the quote can add contrast and further highlight the quote.

With the right design elements, the quote can be an effective way to capture the audience’s attention in a PowerPoint presentation.

Example of a Powerful Quote in a PowerPoint Presentation

A powerful quote can be an effective way to capture your audiences attention and drive home the message of your PowerPoint presentation.

When displaying quotes in PowerPoint, it is important to select a font and font size that will make the quote stand out from the rest of the text.

Additionally, adding a background image or color to further highlight the quote can help draw attention to it.

Animations or transitions can also be used to draw attention to the quote and emphasize its importance.

An example of a powerful quote that could be used in a PowerPoint presentation is Albert Einsteins famous quote, Imagination is more important than knowledge.

This quote could be used to emphasize the importance of creativity and innovation in any presentation.

To display this quote, you could select a bold font and font size to make the text stand out.

Additionally, you could add a background image or color that further emphasizes the quote.

For example, a light blue background could be used to represent knowledge, while a bright yellow background could be used to represent imagination.

Animations or transitions could also be used to draw attention to the quote as it appears on the slide.

Including quotes in PowerPoint presentations can be an effective way to capture the audiences attention and drive home the message of the presentation.

When selecting a quote, it is important to select a font and font size that will make the quote stand out.

Additionally, adding a background image or color and animations or transitions can help emphasize the importance of the quote.

Final Thoughts

Now that you know how to display quotes in PowerPoint, why not give it a try? Create a presentation that stands out with the help of quotes and see the impact it can have on your audience.

James Wilson

James Wilson has extensive knowledge in the information technology industry.His second love, besides dealing with computers, is smart home technology. He is continually updating information to better comprehend this problem and has a deep understanding of the apartment’s support system.

Recent Posts

What is Airtable Automation? (ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW)

Airtable automation is a feature that allows users to streamline their workflows by setting up triggers and actions within the Airtable platform. With automation, users can create sequences of steps...

How to Add Tags in Airtable? (Easy Steps for Efficient Organization)

To add tags in Airtable, you can create a new field with a "Single Select" field type. Then, you can enter the different tags you want to use in the options list. This allows you to easily assign...

How To Create Attention-Grabbing Presentation Quotes

Nata kostenko.

• May 23, 2018

There’s a trend in presentation design to illustrate data with stories.

Stories help people to emotionally connect to the narrative, and thus understand the information better.

Sometimes a presenter can tell a story in his or her own words. Yet, quite often, there is a quote that perfectly fits the flow of the presentation and sums everything up .

And that’s why the best presenters don’t memorize meaningful quotes; they design slides for them.

Depending on how well things are done, these presentation quote slides can either become a distraction, or an instrument to enhance the discussion.

I assume you’d go for the latter option?

If so, I’m here to help. Here are some suggestions to help you make a beautiful and powerful quote slide for your next presentation.

Tip 1: Combine Two Fonts

First things first, understand  exactly what your quote is about.

What kind of person said the phrase?

Is it a fluffy quote?

Was it said by a CEO of a big company ?

A famous artist maybe?

Answering these questions will help you get an idea of what fonts to use.

Now, go to Google Fonts  and check the boxes that are relevant to the style you have in mind.

A good tactic to use is to combine handwriting fonts with Sans Serif ones. Or, you could even choose an uppercase bold font with a sentence case thin italic.

Whatever choice you make, just make sure it fits the context of the quote.

Tip 2: Insert a Quote Symbol

I know, this might be an obvious trick. But using a quote symbol can be effective.

This way, your audience won’t need to think twice about what they’re looking at. It’ll be clear as night and day. Plus, you’re making the quote really easy to digest. It’s a double win!

By the way, opting for a quote symbol does NOT mean that you add quotation marks to your text and call it a day. That’s boring. We’re after creative vibes!

Think about placing the quote symbol just over the text, behind the first word, or if you’re feeling a little adventurous and know how to play with colors , behind all of the text.

Feel free to experiment and see what works!

Tip 3: Use Lines and Shapes

This tip’s easy.

All you have to do is add a simple line or shape to spice up your presentation quote.

• Experiment with dash types to create an unusual effect;
• Draw attention to the quote by putting a dotted box around it; or
• Create a circle or square around the quotes symbol.

Another solution could be working with the background of the whole slide.

For example, if you have two quotes with opposite opinions, you could add a shape of a different color to the background to divide the slide into two contrasting sections.

Play around with the ideas I suggested and see what works for you.

Tip 4: Work With Images

Think about what you would like to emphasize in the quote you’ve selected. Who said it? What was said? How do you think it was said?

Then, go ahead and find an image or illustration relevant to the quote. The image you select should add a little more emphasis and make your quote more meaningful.

Oh, and when searching for images or illustrations, be sure to check its quality before inserting it on the slide.

If you can’t find the right image, then try to come up with second level associations. For example, if the quote is about uniqueness, you can use photos of unicorns, fingerprints or Mars. Each of them highlight a different feeling.

Tip 5: Keep Your Presentation Quote Simple

It has been said many times, yet this is very important to remind: keep the slides as simple as possible .

Place the quote, mention the author, add an image and a couple of lines or shapes — that’s all you need to do .

Don’t clutter the slide with extra elements. Don’t try to impress the audience with your design skills.

A Hands-On Presentation Quote Tutorial

Looking for a hands-on guide that will teach you  exactly how to create a beautiful presentation quote?

Slide Cow published an easy to follow, step-by-step video tutorial on creating the ultimate presentation quote . It covers all of the tips in the post, and some. You should probably give it a watch.

What Would You Do?

There’s a good chance you have had some kind of experience with a presentation quote. The beautiful thing about these slides is that there’s more than one way of doing things.

So, tell me. What would you do? Would you use another tip that I didn’t cover in this post?

Just let me know in the comments section below!

Thank you. You’re very good at what you do.

Thank you so much!

Great job! These are fab-looking slides, and I’ve added a link to this page on my own post about using quotes in presentations .

I’ve also a question: I notice your quotes tend to be in all caps or all lowercase – what advice do you have to non-designers on what capitalisation to use for quotes? (Being a writer, I tend to go for sentence case every time!)

Thanks Craig!

To answer your question: it really just depends on what suits the slide’s tone. Something that exudes energy, for example, tends to be all caps. Something calm and collective tends to be lower case. It all just depends on how we want the audience to feel.

[…] of well-designed quote slides on Marc Jadoul’s blog. And for inspiration, there are some even better-looking quote slides by Nata Kostenko on the Slide Cow […]

I found your site yesterday and watched many of your awesome videos!

I notice you use some interesting fonts (Muli, Galano Grotesque, etc). Do you have any posts on some font sites you recommend or how you get creative (but still professional looking) with fonts? What are you looking for when you choose a particular font?

Also, if I already have a starting color (eg. my company’s logo color), is there a site that will do something like the Color Supply color wheel using my starting color?

Thanks for all the incredible tips. Bill

Got a project for us?

© Slide Cow. All rights reserved.

Session expired

Please log in again. The login page will open in a new tab. After logging in you can close it and return to this page.

PowerPoint Ninja

The PowerPoint Ninja Blog covers practical PowerPoint topics, tips, and tricks. 

• Bullet Point Therapy
• Design Tips
• PowerPoint 2007
• PowerPoint 2010
• Presentation Books
• Presentation Delivery
• Presentation Planning
• January 2013
• October 2012
• February 2012
• December 2011
• November 2011
• February 2011

Nov 09 2011

Tips for Using Quotes in PowerPoint Presentations

I love quotes. (c)Thinkstock

When you’re trying to add more emphasis or credibility to a key point in your presentation, a quote can come in handy. I’m a fan of a good, well-placed quote. I’ve even assembled a humble collection of PowerPoint-related quotes . However, just like inappropriate or tired images can detract from your content, so can poorly-chosen or over-used quotes. I thought I’d share some thoughts and tips on using quotes in PowerPoint presentations.

Two types of quotes

I’ve found that good quotes fall into two main categories:

• Powerful quote because of who uttered it: Sometimes who stated the quote is just as important as what was said. If you have a quote by someone highly respected or highly relevant to your topic (e.g., your competitor’s CEO), the quote gains credibility and potency simply by who stated it. The opposite effect can also happen. For example, I found a great quote by Richard Nixon – but I decided against using it because it came from the disgraced former US president.
• Powerful quote despite who uttered it: In some cases, the quote is so insightful or appropriate that it doesn’t really matter who said it. Generally, it’s hard to find quotes that don’t come from some reasonably respected source, but the quoted individual might be fairly obscure and not familiar to your audience. I like to do a Wikipedia search on the individual to find out more about their background and make sure that nothing in their past would conflict with the point I’m trying to make. In a few instances, I found a great quote by an unfamiliar person but when I researched the author I found they had a checkered past, which soured me on using their quotes.

Which type of quotes do you tend to use? Do you tend to favor one type over another? At the end of the day it comes down to the appropriateness or relevance of the quote to your content. If it’s credited to someone well-respected or well-known, then you don’t have to worry about explaining who the author is. In the case of the second option, you might need to indicate who they are (e.g., first female boxer, 18th-century English poet. etc.).

Finding good quotes

Two of the best sites for finding good quotes are Brainyquote.com and Thinkexist.com . Both have extensive selections of quotes. One of the challenges of finding good quotes is getting the right keyword. Without the right keyword, you might not identify the quote you need. Experiment with different synonyms as well as plural forms. For example, simply trying “tools” instead of “tool” opened up better quotes during a recent quote search I was performing.

In addition, some of the best sources of inspirational quotes are collections of quotes for particular topics (e.g., motivation, success, design, adversity, etc.). The advantage of these collections is that they don’t necessarily contain a specific keyword. Sometimes you can be limited by the terms you search for. I’ve found these quote collections by searching for the topic by including “quotes and sayings” in your search.  A good example of one of these sites is quotegarden.com , which has quotes by a variety of topics. If you’re a fan of using quotes, I also recommend keeping track of our favorite quotes as you find them by keeping them in a single document so you can easily find them when you need them.

Verify your quotes

Check out Ralph Keyes book!

When you choose a quote, you’ll want to be sure to get the right source . Sometimes a popular quote will be attributed to several different people. You might want to double-check who the most likely source was using Wikiquote or Ralph Keyes’ Quote Verifier book . I would also recommend checking on quotes that are deemed to be “anonymous” or “author unknown”. I found a great quote (“Words divide us, action unites us”) that was supposedly from an unknown author until I discovered it was actually the slogan of a South American terrorist group (Uruguay’s Tupamaros). Yikes. Finally, you may want to check the context of the quote (if it’s even possible to ascertain). You may interpret the quote differently than the way the author intended. Sometimes it won’t matter if you’re using the quote out of context, but in other situations the context may be critical.

Short and sweet

For presentations, I’d recommend using short quotes that are quick reads for your audience – say no more than a couple of lines (less than 15 words). Occasionally, I might use a longer quote but the payoff needs to be worth the increased text. Some quoted people have the talent to express things more succinctly (Albert Einstein – succinct, Bill Gates – verbose). Make sure you’re not passing up a more succinct quote simply because you’ve settled on the first relevant quote you’ve found.

The top quote is really short. The second quote is pushing the length limits (one of my favorite quotes BTW).

Quotes and images

Typically, I’ve seen quotes presented in three methods. First, you may choose to feature the quote without any images (e.g., white text on a dark background). With a minimalist approach your audience isn’t distracted from focusing on the key point or message within the quote. You can emphasize key parts of the quote with italics, bold, color, size, font, etc. (check out this blog post for some inspiration ). If the author of the quote is well-known and important to the quote, you may decide to include a picture of the individual who stated it (see below). Third, you may choose to emphasize the message (and not the author) by tying the quote to a descriptive image . There is no preferred way, and the best approach will depend on your audience, your message, and what you’re trying to achieve.

Here you see three versions of the same quote using different approaches (text, author image, and topic image).

Interestingly, the often-quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson once stated, “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.” Quotes aren’t substitutes for good content, but they can reinforce good content. You can quote me on that!

• A Humble Collection of PowerPoint Quotes
• Seven Tips for Using Analogies in PowerPoint Presentations
• Five Tips for Finding Good Images for Your Next Presentation
• 8 Tips for Effective Team PowerPoint Presentations

Tags: quotation , quotes , tips

Comments (6)

6 Responses to “Tips for Using Quotes in PowerPoint Presentations”

[…] Dykes shows how to incorporate quotes into slides. When you’re trying to add more emphasis or credibility […]

Great Tips here on many aspects of quotes.

I really appreciate the information.

This is great because people are naturally curious about what others think. And if that person is an expert in the field, or anyone of notoriety, that quote has even more weight. A quote can also enhance a somewhat bland design if it is in a beautiful font and featured prominently on a slide. Quotes can be a great way to break up a copy heavy presentation, especially if the client insists on not cutting any of the content.

I agree about the length of good quotes – around 15 words is a useful guide (based on taking about 3 seconds to read it). And nice example about the motto of the terrorist group — looks like I should check the quotes I use!

Here’s 6 more tips, with an example quote by Garr Reynolds and one from Nancy Duarte’s new book: http://remotepossibilities.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/how-to-use-quotes-in-your-presentation-tips-six-minutes/

[…] used to start a new topic area, reiterate a point or add a little humor. I found a website called PowerPointNinja which features an article devoted to using quotes in PowerPoint. You may find some of the quotes […]

I wish to say your post is amazing.When I was doing my presentation I searched for some tips for designing the template.I came to visit your article and gained some useful information.Thanks for your contribution.

Leave a Reply

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Comment text

The PowerPoint Ninja Blog covers practical PowerPoint topics, tips, and tricks. If you’re looking to move from PowerPoint apprentice to ninja, subscribe to this RSS today!

• Choose Your PowerPoint Fonts Wisely
• PowerPoint Design Principle #3: Contrast
• Tips for Removing the Background from Images in PowerPoint 2010
• How Recover an Unsaved PowerPoint 2010 File
• 10 Ways to Spot a Lame Corporate PowerPoint Template

50 quotes to enhance your presentations

• Written by: Shay O’Donnell
• Categories: Sales presentations , Visual communication
• Comments: 6

Whether you’re looking to inspire your audience, need a strong presentation starter, or want a concise soundbite to end your presentation with, using a quote in your presentation can be a great way to support your slides’ story and enhance your presentation’s flow. Presentation quotes give you – as the presenter – a moment to breathe, while the audience is reading the slide ( a reminder of why you shouldn’t be reading your quotes aloud is here ). They enable your audience to quickly and concisely understand your presentation’s key message, and give you an extra boost of credibility to boot.

The struggle comes when you have to find presentation quotes that fit your story, come from a reputable source, and have an attribution to get you through legal and compliance checks. But worry not: BrightCarbon have done the hard work for you!

We have compiled 50 presentation quotes and categorized them into 10 themes so that you can easily find a quote that resonates with your message, be it in a sales presentation, keynote speech, or training deck. All the quotes include references and attributions, so that you can sail through compliance and get on with creating a stunning presentation!

Pop this in your bookmarks tab (you’ll thank us later!), then dig in and find the perfect presentation quotes below:

Innovation quotes for presentations

• “Innovation, as I understand it, is both about doing different things as well as doing things differently.” Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Biotech Entrepreneur From an interview with Dr. Bhavana Weidman on nature.com (January 04, 2014)
• “Innovation is more than having new ideas: it includes the process of successfully introducing them or making things happen in a new way. It turns ideas into useful, practicable and commercial products or services.” John Adair, Writer on Business Leadership. Effective Innovation (2009), Revised Edition ch. 11
• “Every new thing creates two new questions and two new opportunities.” Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon From ‘The electricity metaphor for the web’s future’, presented at TED2003 (February 2003)
• “Innovation is fostered by information gathered from new connections; from insights gained by journeys into other disciplines or places; from active, collegial networks and fluid, open boundaries. “Innovation arises from ongoing circles of exchange, where information is not just accumulated or stored, but created. Knowledge is generated anew from connections that weren’t there before.” Meg Wheatley, Author and Management Consultant Leadership and the New Science (2001)
• “We are all looking for the magic formula. Well, here you go: Creativity + Iterative Development = Innovation.” James Dyson, Founder of Dyson ‘James Dyson on Innovation’,  Ingenia , Issue 24 (September 2005)

Design quotes for presentations

• “Good design begins with honesty, asks tough questions, comes from collaboration and from trusting your intuition.” Freeman Thomas, Automobile and Industrial Designer Reviving Professional Learning Communities: Strength Through Diversity, Conflict, Teamwork, and Structure (2012) p. 63
• “The urge for good design is the same as the urge to go on living. The assumption is that somewhere, hidden, is a better way of doing things.” Harry Bertoia, Artist and Designer As quoted in 1000 Chairs , Carlotte and Peter Fiell (2005) p. 66
• “People think it’s this veneer — that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” Steve Jobs, Chairman and CEO of Apple Inc. As quoted in ‘The Guts of a New Machine’, Rob Walker, The New York Times Magazine (November 30, 2003)
• “Design is redesign.” Jan Michl, Professor Emeritus, Phdr. History and Theories of Design ‘On seeing design as redesign’,  Scandinavian Journal of Design History , Issue 12 (2002) p. 7-23
• “Design is not about products, design is about relationships.” Hella Jongerius, Industrial Designer ‘Beyond the New: a search for ideals in design’, a manifesto by Hella Jongerius and Louise Schouwenberg (2015) 

Education and learning quotes for presentations

• “We are now at a point where we must educate our children in what no one knew yesterday, and prepare our schools for what no one knows yet.” Margaret Mead, Anthropologist and Author As quoted in How They Work In Indiana : Business-Education Partnerships , Andrew L. Zehner (1994)
• “The most important thing any teacher has to learn, not to be learned in any school of education I ever heard of, can be expressed in seven words: Learning is not the product of teaching. Learning is the product of the activity of learners.” John Holt, Author and Educator Growing Without Schooling , Issue   40 (1984)
• “True education means fostering the ability to be interested in something.” Sumio Iijima, Physicist ‘About myself, To the younger generation’,  Innovative Engine  (September 25, 2007)
• “If you think education is expensive — try ignorance.” ‘Ask Ann Landers’ Syndicated Advice Column (October 4, 1975)
• “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.” Plutarch, Greek Historian, Biographer, and Essayist On Listening to Lectures

Success quotes for presentations

• “Success is fucking up on your own terms.” Guillermo del Toro, Director and Producer From Portland Mercury Q&A (September 29, 2010)
• “We cannot say what brings us success. We can only pin down what blocks or obliterates success. Eliminate the downside, the thinking errors, and the upside will take care of itself. This is all we need to know.” Rolf Dobelli, Author and Businessman The Art of Thinking Clearly (2013)
• “The secret to success is the willingness to serve without aspiring for rewards.” Cham Joof, Gambian Historian Gambia, Land of our heritage,  p IV
• “Failure and success are not episodes, they are trajectories. They are tendencies, directions, pathways. Each decision, each time at bat, each tennis serve, each business quarter, each school year seems like a new event, but the next performance is shaped by what happened last time out, unless something breaks the streak. The meaning of any particular event is shaped by what’s come before.” Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Author and Management Consultant Confidence (2006)
• “Success is more than a good idea. It is timing.” Anita Roddick, Founder of The Body Shop From an interview on bookbrowse.com

Creativity quotes for presentations

• “Relaxed, playful and harmonious moments are the birth place of creativity.” Amit Ray, Author and Spiritual Master Meditation: Insights and Inspiration (2010) p. 58
• “Originality is going back to the origin and finding an empty chair. Would you gladly sit on it? No thank you. It is empty for a reason. That’s where my ass was. Not where my head is now.” Giannina Braschi, Puerto Rican Poet, Novelist, and Essayist World Literature Today (2012)
• “Creativity isn’t about the advantage or disadvantage of a specific time or culture. Creativity is something that comes internally from a human being having a genuine mistrust of rules. And that may be the constant. It’s almost like there’s some rebellion in it.” Paula Scher, Graphic Designer From an interview conducted by Neal Shaffer (2006)
• “Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple of them and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” John Steinbeck, Author Conversations with John Steinbeck , ed. Thomas Fensch (1988)
• “Creativity arises out of the tension between spontaneity and limitations, the latter (like the river banks) forcing the spontaneity into the various forms which are essential to the work of art or poem.” Rollo May, Psychologist and Author The Courage to Create (1975) p. 115

Teamwork and collaboration quotes for presentations

• “In organizations, real power and energy is generated through relationships. The patterns of relationships and the capacities to form them are more important than tasks, functions, roles, and positions.” Margaret Wheatley, Management Consultant As quoted in 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself , Steve Chandler (2004) p. 123
• “Life is not a solo act. It’s a huge collaboration.” Tim Gunn, Fashion Consultant and Author ‘Postings | Recent Entries From Our Blogs’, Tara Parker-Pope, The New York Times (December 21, 2010)
• “Collaboration is important not just because it’s a better way to learn. The spirit of collaboration is penetrating every institution and all of our lives. So learning to collaborate is part of equipping yourself for effectiveness, problem solving, innovation and life-long learning in an ever-changing networked economy.” Don Tapscott, Business Executive and Consultant ‘The spirit of collaboration is touching all of our lives’, The Globe and Mail (June 7, 2013)
• “As you navigate through the rest of your life, be open to collaboration. Other people and other people’s ideas are often better than your own. Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.” Amy Poehler, Actress, Comedian, Director and Producer From The Joy of Success: What It Means to Transform Success Into Excellence,  Tochukwu O. Okafor MPA (2013) p. 53
• “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” Michael Jordan, Basketball Hall of Fame Player and Businessman As quoted in The Victory Letters : Inspiration for the Human Race , Cheri Ruskus (2003) p. 68.

Knowledge quotes for presentations

• “While knowledge is increasingly being viewed as a commodity or intellectual asset, there are some paradoxical characteristics of knowledge that are radically different from other valuable commodities. These knowledge characteristics include the following: Using knowledge does not consume it. Transferring knowledge does not result in losing it. Knowledge is abundant, but the ability to use it is scarce. Much of an organization’s valuable knowledge walks out the door at the end of the day.” Kimiz Dalkir, Director at McGill School of Information Studies Knowledge Management in Theory and Practice, 2nd ed . (2011)
• “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” Carl Sagan, Astronomer and Popular Science Writer From That’s Weird!: Awesome Science Mysteries , Kendall F. Haven (2001)
• “Investing in people is the single most important thing in the knowledge economy. Traditionally, wealth was defined by land and natural resources. Today the most important resources is between our ears.” Barack Obama Remarks by President Obama at Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Town Hall, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (April 27, 2014)
• “You can’t manage knowledge – nobody can. What you can do is to manage the environment in which knowledge can be created, discovered, captured, shared, distilled, validated, transferred, adopted, adapted and applied.” Chris Collison and Geoff Parcell Learning to Fly – Practical Knowledge Management from Leading and Learning Organizations (2005) p. 24-25
• “The Information Age offers much to mankind, and I would like to think that we will rise to the challenges it presents. But it is vital to remember that information — in the sense of raw data — is not knowledge, that knowledge is not wisdom, and that wisdom is not foresight. But information is the first essential step to all of these.” Arthur C. Clarke, Science Fiction Writer, Inventor, Futurist As quoted in ‘Humanity will survive information deluge — Sir Arthur C Clarke’, OneWorld South Asia (December 5, 2003)

Leadership quotes for presentations

• “Successful people become great leaders when they learn to shift the focus from themselves to others.” Marshall Goldsmith, Leadership Coach What Got You Here Won’t Get You There (2010) p. 72
• “Ultimately a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus.” Martin Luther King, Jr. From an address at the Episcopal National Cathedral, Washington D.C. (March 31, 1968)
• “You can’t lead from behind your desk, you’ve got to get out in front, be visible, for your customers as well as for your employees. During a crisis, you’ve got to be calm and confident. You’ve got to always tell the truth. And you’ve got to be willing to face a crisis, not shy away from it, embrace it.” Geisha Williams, Fortune 500 Businesswoman ‘Geisha Williams: Set Your Sights High, Take Charge and Keep the Lights On’, Leadership California , Carol Caley (February 17, 2014)
• “Courage is the main quality of leadership, in my opinion, no matter where it is exercised. Usually it implies some risk — especially in new undertakings. Courage to initiate something and to keep it going, pioneering and adventurous spirit to blaze new ways, often, in our land of opportunity.” Walt Disney As quoted in The Disney Way Fieldbook,  Bill Capodagli and Lynn Jackson (2000) p. 147
• “Embrace what you don’t know. What you don’t know can become your greatest asset. It ensures that you will absolutely be doing things different from everyone else.” Sarah Blakely, Founder of Spanx ’10 Lessons I Learned from Sara Blakely That You Won’t Hear in Business School,’ Forbes , Kathy Caprino (May 23, 2012)

Mistakes and failure quotes for presentations

• “We tell our young managers: ‘Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. But make sure you don’t make the same mistake twice’” Akio Morita, Co-Founder of Sony Corporation As quoted in The Sony Vision , Nick Lyons (1976) p. 101
• “There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.” Oprah Winfrey Commencement address at Harvard University (30 May 2013)
• “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” Suzy Kassem, Author Rise Up And Salute The Sun (2010)
• “Don’t put limitations on yourself. Other people will do that for you. Don’t do that to yourself. Don’t bet against yourself. And take risk. NASA has this phrase that they like, “Failure is not an option.” But failure has to be an option. In art and exploration, failure has to be an option. Because it is a leap of faith. And no important endeavor that required innovation was done without risk. You have to be willing to take those risks. … In whatever you are doing, failure is an option. But fear is not.” James Cameron, Film Director From ‘Before Avatar … a curious boy’, presented at TED2010 (February 13, 2010)
• “I view this year’s failure as next year’s opportunity to try it again. Failures are not something to be avoided. You want to have them happen as quickly as you can so you can make progress rapidly.” Gordon Moore, Engineer and Co-Founder of Intel Corporation ‘An Interview with Gordon Moore’, Ingenuity 5 (2), Laura Schmitt (May 2000)

Planning and strategy quotes for presentations

• “Chance favours the prepared mind.” Louis Pasteur, Microbiologist, Chemist and Inventor Lecture, University of Lille (December 7, 1854)
• “The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do. ” Michael Porter, Economist, Researcher, Author ‘What is strategy?’ Harvard Business Review  (November 1996) p. 70
• “Business strategy is the battleplan for a better future.” Patrick Dixon, Author and Business Consultant Building a Better Business (2005)
• “Managers who extensively plan the future get the timing wrong. Sometimes they arrive to market too early and so must wait for the demand to catch up. Sometimes they are too late and so must accelerate to rejoin the future.” Shona L. Brown and Kathleen M. Eisenhardt Competing on the Edge: Strategy as Structured Chaos (1998) p.135
• “Strategy is about stretching limited resources to fit ambitious aspirations.” K. Prahalad, Organizational Theorist As quoted in The Wal-Mart Way , Don Soderquist (2005) p. 178

We hope you found what you needed from our list of presentation quotes! If you’re about to paste that quote onto your deck, but want to know how to format it to perfection, check out our guide to advanced typography in PowerPoint .

Have an idea for a quote we should add to the list? Is there a key theme you want some presentation quotes for? Let us know in the comments below!

Shay O’Donnell

Managing design consultant, related articles, making accessible elearning content.

• Effective eLearning / Visual communication

When done well, eLearning can be a truly effective and engaging learning tool. An eLearning module that works for some learners, but leaves others unable to access the content, isn’t doing its job. This is why accessibility in eLearning is so important. Let's discuss...

Review: Storyboard That

• Presentation technology / Visual communication

Storyboarding is useful when creating visual content. We review Storyboard That, a website that enables users to create their own cartoon storyboards.

Review: Visme

Visual content – infographics, images and animations – can be a much more engaging way of presenting information than text. We at BrightCarbon believe in and share this kind of philosophy with Visme...

Thanks for this post.It’s a helpful quotes for enhance slides.

Glad it was useful Amit! Thank you for your feedback.

it helped me a lot… thanks!

Amazing Quotes. Really Good. These quotes help me making my presentation perfect Thanks & Regard vinita

Thanks for this post

thanks for information

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment.

Join the BrightCarbon mailing list for monthly invites and resources

Email doesn’t do justice to how thrilled I am with this work - it’s beyond all expectations so a huge, huge, thanks!!! Luke Kershaw SquareTrade

Ace the Presentation

55 Powerful and Inspiring Quotes to Start Your Presentation

Have you ever stopped to think about the best strategies to start a presentation and gain the audience’s attention or interlocutor? Did you know that using motivational phrases to create a presentation is a great alternative?

It doesn’t matter if you’re a student and you’re presenting a paper, or if you’re a renowned speaker. Knowing how to speak well in public implies several factors, and at any moment of your speech is a crucial moment to ensure that the presentation is successful.

According to businessman and filmmaker Peter Davies,

“Motivation is like food for the brain; you can’t have enough at a meal. Motivation needs continuous and regular recharges to nurture deep and transform a human being into a winner.”

Among the techniques you can and should use, the citation should undoubtedly be among the main in your list.

A relevant quote, which is aligned with the theme of its presentation, tied to the purpose and objective, creates a strong connection with the audience, often arousing interest and attention.

An unforgettable introduction is the first step in starting a presentation or speech. Often, we are focused only on the content presented, completely forgetting that, for the public to pay attention, it is necessary to arrest them from the beginning.

5 Best Techniques to start a Presentation or Speech

• Quote someone else

Opening your presentation with a relevant quote can help set the whole tone for the rest of your speech. However, when making the quote, you need to remember two essential things: a) Quote the source of the sentence and b) “Tie it” to the central theme of the presentation.

However, an important point to consider when speaking in public: Citations will depend on the style of the audience, and the moment the presenter lives. Do not push too hard or adopt a tone of voice or language that does not suit the public.

• Don’t be afraid to use humor.

A touch of humor is a great way to break the ice with the audience, relieve tension and connect with everyone. As the example given above quote, the key to success is making the joke related to the topic being discussed.

If this tip is not your style, you can address the other information in this article.

During the presentation, telling a story is another very clever way to start a speech.  After all, stories compellingly connect people.

But, as in the case of jokes, your story needs to bridge or contain a message that can link the introduction to the presentation

‘s content.

An excellent way to use storytelling is by using an “imaginary” scenario, but that is your life story; this will leave the participants interested and can identify better with you.

• Be bold and use a striking phrase.

This technique consists of giving a brief thought-provoking statement, which will set the tone of the presentation theme, especially if this is said with a strong voice, which draws attention and leaves the group ready to hear what’s next.

Therefore, when you start the speech, you can speak a bold and striking phrase and use the silence technique later, increasing the effect of the phrase.

In this sense, an example of an excellent way to catch the public’s attention is to say the sentence and pause, up to 10 seconds. 

This plan will make the audience anxious and attentive.

• Cite notable statistics

Using surprising statistics will show the public an immediate value in their knowledge, leaving them more interested throughout their presentation. 

It also helps stimulate the audience’s thoughts; this technique works very well when the facts reported are not common knowledge but are nevertheless relevant and stimulating.

Please make sure to be brief in the opening statement, so your opening won’t get too many easy-to-forget details.

1. “Success is most often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.” Coco Chanel

We are often afraid to start a project no matter how much we have ideas that are outside the box, and when compared to other people, we thought that this would not be successful. 

This phrase from Coco Chanel helps us understand that to be successful, and we need to subject ourselves to error sometimes.

2.  “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Eleanor Roosevelt

We have here a phrase from one of the strong women of history known as the defender of human rights unless we identify ourselves with what people think of us; none has power over what we are and want to be.

3. “Failure is another steppingstone to greatness.” Oprah Winfrey

With the illustrious phrase of another inspiring woman Oprah Winfrey, it became clear how error always has a positive side; getting it right is not always what we need from error comes the improvement of an idea that can continuously be improved.

4. “The whole secret of a successful life is to find out what is one’s destiny to do, and then do it.” Henry Ford

If we discover what makes us happy, we can always succeed because happiness is the path of inspiration that leads us to unimaginable ways.

5. “A belief is only a thought you keep thinking.” Abraham Hicks

Beliefs are socialized since we were born, depending on the socio-cultural context and the people around us. Anything is possible if you think so.

6. If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Maya Angelou

Often we can criticize something or behavior when we think we can do better; Angelou encourages us to get up and do it. If we still can’t change, maybe we have to change our attitude towards the situation that bothers us.

7. If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way. Napoleon Hill

Sometimes we think that success comes from great attitudes, and from thinking so much about an idea that surpasses all the others, we stand by and do nothing. Napoleon Hill encourages us to start step-by-step and what matters here is how we make it small or big.

8. Innovation, as I understand it, is both about doing different things as well as doing things differently.” Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

Sometimes we need to get out of our comfort zone, and for that, we need not only to experience things we’ve never done before, but the way can also lead us to new paths.

9. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.” Steve Jobs

When we choose the course we want to take in college, we often choose a course that our parents choose, and that doesn’t make us happy, which we shouldn’t do because we are supposed to live for ourselves and our happiness.

10. “Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.” Margaret Mead

Every human being is unique in its way, and our particular way of being cannot be compared to any other. Hence we need not be afraid when we do something new, even if someone else has already done it.

Have you ever stopped to think about the best strategies to start a presentation and gain the audience’s attention or interlocutor? Did you know that using motivational phrases to create a presentation is a great alternative? It doesn’t matter if you’re a student and you’re presenting a paper, or if you’re a renowned speaker. Knowing…

Click Here to Read More…

5 QUICK TIPS ON HOW TO GIVE AN EFFECTIVE MOTIVATIONAL SPEECH

This post is part 3 of a series of posts that where we will be sharing with you quick tips on how to deliver all types of speech that we mentioned in our most-read post on this blog, 10 Types of Speeches. Instead of just telling you that there is a motivational speech or an…

26 Motivational and Inspirational Quotes on Life, Success, and Positive Thinking to Make Your Day

If you came here looking for short, but powerful motivational and inspirational quotes that will lift you up when you are feeling discouraged, or share a pearl of wisdom and help you achieve success in your endeavors, then you have come to the right place. Motivational and Inspirational Quotes have a great effect on us….

11. “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” Robert Louis Stevenson

This means that sometimes we will have bad days and things will be difficult, but this does not mean that we will not have good days, so we must always be kind and cheerful.

12. “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

It’s much easier to follow the path that many people have taken may seem safer. Yet, here Emerson suggests that choosing a direction is knowledge, adventure, or whatever it is we decided to learn new things and share with other people that would be the trail.

13. “People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things.” Edmund Hillary

People aren’t born brilliant. They make decisions and make choices that push outside the box and are exceptional.

14. “Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Don’t bother to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.” William Faulkner

Faulkner encourages us to be our competence, neither that of descendants or ascenders nor anyone but ourselves. Hold your hand and go hard.

15. “Designing a presentation without an audience in mind is like writing a love letter and addressing it ‘to whom it may concern.” Ken Haemer

You have got to prepare yourself for whichever situations or people you’re going to come across in different environments and conditions so that you don’t do things that don’t make sense.

16. Some people feel the rain. Others get wet.” Bob Marley

We can interpret this Bob Marley phrase as when faced with a chaotic situation, some people will despair, and others will calm down, focus, and look at the problem as an opportunity. Who the hell are you?

17. “When I’m old and dying. I plan to look back on my life and say ‘Wow, an adventure’ not, ‘Wow, I sure felt safe.’” Tom Preston Werner

Werner means to live your life without fears and live your life intensely because you never know how it will be tomorrow.

18. Get action. Do things; be sane; don’t fritter away your time; create, act, take place wherever you are and be someone; get action.” Theodore Roosevelt

Roosevelt encourages us to get better lives by doing something, turning into reality our dreams by consistently taking action.

19. “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” Barack Obama

It’s for no one but ourselves that we need to improve or reinvent ourselves.

20. You have to go wholeheartedly into anything to achieve anything worth having.” Frank Lloyd Wright

Wright tells us that following our heart is the best way to reach out to more incredible things in life; anything we put, our real feelings and natural energy will glow.

21. “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” Nelson Mandela

With this simple phrase, Mandela brings us a crucial message to live an extraordinary life; when we start by somewhere and are not there yet, it seems unreachable but never is if we don’t give up trying.

22. “There are only two days of the year when you can do nothing: one is called yesterday and the other tomorrow” Dalai Lama

Don’t leave for tomorrow what you can do today; live each day as if it were your last.

23. “In the end, everything works out, and if it didn’t work, it’s because it hasn’t come to an end” Fernando Sabino

What Sabino means is you have to be patient because someday, our time to shine will come.

24. “The pessimist sees difficulty at every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity at every difficulty” Winston Churchill

When we sync our minds to positive thinking, anything we face is reachable, and we get things done because everything turns into an opportunity to learn and grow.

26. “You have to be a protagonist. You can’t just listen to the band play, and you have to be part of the band” Sonia Hess

In life, we face many situations that we work and live with people, but we don’t need to be ordinary because we are not; we have to show and give our best in anything we do.

27. Our failures are sometimes more fruitful than our successes” Henry Ford

With mistakes, we learn, we improve, and one day we reach perfection.

28. “Change your mind and change your world” Norman Vincent Peale

If we have an open mind, we will find that our way of thinking is not always the right one, and when we change our review, we will be able to put it into practice in our lives.

29. “One day you must stop dreaming, take the plans out of the drawer and somehow start” Amyr Klink

Klink encourages us to materialize any ideas or dreams we may have and not spend days only daydreaming about them.

30. “The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change, simply by changing his attitude” Oprah Winfrey

Sometimes the attitude we face in certain realities is the ones that prevent us from enjoying more extraordinary things in life. So you may want to think about some philosophy or way of thinking that you could use a change.

31. “Keep in mind that your desire to achieve success is more important than anything” Abraham Lincoln

What Lincoln means is that we must work hard to achieve our goals and put them as priorities in life if we want to achieve them.

32. “Be content to act. Leave the speech to others” Baltasar Gracián

This means to live your life no matter what other people think; if you are happy with it, be gentle with yourself.

33. “To achieve success, you need to accept all the challenges that lie ahead of you. You can’t just accept the ones you prefer” Mike Gafka

Gafka means that Challenges turn us better if we submit to the lesson they have to teach us.

34. “A successful warrior is an average man, but with a sharp focus like a laser beam” Bruce Lee

Lee means that even though a warrior is seen with prestige, he is a regular man. Still, the difference between them and what he is, is how he put attention to what he wants, and we can compare that analogy with daily situations such us when we see some people more successful than others.

35. “Logic can lead from point A to point B. Imagination can lead anywhere” Albert Einstein

Things go far beyond what they seem to be, don’t focus on the obvious, and also see subtexts.

36. “The task is not so much to see what no one has seen, but to think what no one has thought about what everyone sees.” Arthur Schopenhauer

Schopenhauer gives us a lesson about creativity; most of the time, we look for new ideas that no one ever thought about; however, imagination can recreate helpfully something that already exists.

37. “It is much better to set out in search of great conquests, even exposing oneself to failure, than to align oneself with the poor in spirit, who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a grey gloom, where they know neither victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt

Living adventurously and risky is much more satisfying and rewarding than having a monotonous and safe life.

38. “What we predict rarely occurs; what we least expect usually happens.” Benjamin Disraeli

This means always to expect the unexpected.

39. “Unless we change our way of thinking, we will not be able to solve the problems caused by the way we get used to seeing the world.” Albert Einstein

Einstein encourages us to see situations more dynamically because we socialized in a certain way with ease; our thoughts can become a cycle of ignorance.

40. “Persistence is the least path to success.” Charles Chaplin

Chaplin means that we insist and don’t give up on what we want to do. Indeed, we are going to make it no matter how much time it takes.

7 Steps for Writing an Inspiring Graduation Speech 

You were chosen to make the graduation speech of your class, you were pleased by the trust placed by your colleagues, but now you face a problem: the blank page of Word waits to be filled with inspirational words. First thing, breathe out and relax; everyone who has ever made a graduation speech has faced…

3 KEY Things For Delivering a Successful Speech

Have you ever had to give a speech and have no idea how to direct their thoughts or start talking? In this article, we will discuss in a straightforward way how to work the oratory to develop the ability to speak well with different audiences, arousing their attention, respect, and provoking reflections. Speeches are moments…

41. “To discover consists in looking at what everyone is seeing and thinking something different.” Roger von Oech

This means that we have to think like no one ever thought or even imagined to discover something.

42. “Sometimes we feel that what we do is only a drop of water in the sea. But the sea would be smaller if it lacked a drop”. Mother Teresa de Calcuta

We all make a difference in this world; every soul counts, and every opinion counts either. Please don’t give up on sharing what you got because it is critical.

43. “The more our knowledge increases, the more evident is our ignorance.” John F. Kennedy

The more things you learn, the more things you need to learn because no one can know anything about anything.

44. When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the plane takes off against the wind, not in his favor.” Henry Ford

Remember that Henry Ford suggested the car model we use today back in his time, and nobody but him believed it was possible, he had nobody but himself to hold hands. Don’t give up.

45. “No matter how slow you go, as long as you don’t stop.” Confucius

Do things in your time and never give up.

46. “An entrepreneur sees opportunities where others see only problems.” Michael Gerber

Someone who sees a chance to grow in any situation is a winner, and he has nothing to lose because, in any position of life, we can get something that could be what we didn’t expect.

47. Choose a job you like, and you won’t have to work a single day of your life.” Confucius

If you choose a job that you love, you don’t feel like you’re working; you’re doing a leisure activity.

48. “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you do, you will succeed.” Albert Schweitzer

As Nga, a rapper, says, there is no way to happiness because happiness is when we vibrate good feelings, especially do things we love, life becomes more accessible.

49. “Don’t play games you don’t understand, even if you see many other people making money with them.” Tony Hsieh

Don’t do things through other people’s influence to make your life easier.

50. “Nothing great has ever been achieved without enthusiasm.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

When we do things without good energy, they can easily be ruined.

51. “The thoughts we choose to have are the tools we use to paint the picture of our lives.” Louise Hay

Your way of thinking will determine the course of our lives, which means always be open to new forms of thinking so you can live in a more inclusive World.

52. “Success is born of wanting, determination, and persistence in reaching a goal. Even not reaching the target, who seeks and overcomes obstacles, at least will do admirable things.” José de Alencar

What Alencar means is that when we want something, even if we don’t get what we were thinking at first, we always get something.

53. “To act, that is the true intelligence. I will be whatever I want. But I have to want whatever it is. Success lies in being successful, not in being able to succeed. Palace conditions have any wide land, but where will the palace be if they don’t do it there?” Fernando Pessoa

Pessoa says that when we want something, conditions don’t determine if we thrive or not, but our vibration towards it and that will makes us anything we desire.

54. “You can get anything you want in life if you help other people get what they want.”  Zig Ziglar

If you are kind to other people, they will give back in the future.

55. I like the impossible because there is less competition.” Walt Disney

Walt means that the unthinkable doesn’t exist; most people can’t perseverance, so he does because few people can.

How you open your presentation determines how interested the public will be in what will be said afterward. So, when thinking about how to start a speech or presentation, evaluate if your introduction is completely bland; this will be the initial message that the audience will get from the speaker and the display itself.

Reference and Further Reading

Ace The Presentation. Amadebai, E. 11 Best Body Language Tips for Engaging Presentations.

Ace The Presentation. Amadebai, E. 120 Persuasive Speech Topics.

Ace The Presentation. Amadebai, E. 8 Awesome Persuasive Speech Techniques.

Ezine Articles. Toney, B (2011). Key Elements of a Persuasive Speech.

Similar Posts

An Engaging Business presentation? Read This!

You find yourself spending endless hours in tools like Microsoft Teams or Zoom or around a table discussing strategic agendas, busy schedules from beginning to end of the day with conversations about different projects. All this, not infrequently, leaves you exhausted.  However, it doesn’t have to be that way! The problem, mind you, is not…

What Makes a Good Presentation For a Job Interview? 7 Tips

Interview presentations are fast becoming a key part of the recruitment process as several hiring agencies are making it a mandatory exercise for short-listed candidates.  It would seem that many employers are getting more interested in employees with impressive communication skills, which, when hired, can be positively used to represent their brands. As a job…

How to Become a Confident Public Speaker – 6 Tips

Ever wondered what it feels like to command a room filled with people just with the way you speak? How to Become a Confident Public Speaker ? No, it’s not a gift (in case you are wondering); rather, it takes practice and time for you to master the art of public speaking. This simply means…

The 15 Different Types of Motivational Speakers

If you wonder how many types of motivational speakers are there, you have come to the right place. In this article, you will be learning about what is a motivational speaker, what they do, and in how many different ways they do it. With bonus tips on how you can become a motivational speaker as…

5 Learning Styles to Consider for Memorable Presentations

When preparing a presentation, one of the first questions that come to mind is, how do I make the presentation of my ideas interesting? How do you attract the attention of those who are in the audience? There is no consensus on foolproof tricks to satisfy the audience in a presentation, and each researcher certainly…

7 WAYS TO WIN AT FORENSIC SPEECH COMPETITIONS

WHAT IS A FORENSIC SPEECH? Forensic speech otherwise known as forensics is all about competitive public speaking and debate. The National Forensic League (NFL) in the USA organize these speech competitions with the aim of training. high school and college students to become excellent communicators. Public speaking and debate competitions have been held amongst high…

• Tips & Tricks
• PowerPoint Templates
• Training Programs
• Free E-Courses

Creative Ways Of Representing Powerpoint Quotes

Home > Presentation Ideas > Presentation Graphics > PowerPoint Quotes

Many presenters have the habit of using quotes from well-known personalities, research or experts as part of their presentation. Relevant quotes strengthen a point in the presentation, provide a change from the general flow and show the audience you have done your research.

But quotes need to be showcased properly in PowerPoint to make an impact. Here are 5 ways in which you can showcase a relevant quote to your presentation.

This is the typical way in which presenters put up their slides. You may have seen motivational presentations, with a collection of quotes that use this format.

This image at the back overwhelms the message. Another more stylish option suggested is to use this format of quote with image of expert:

While this format is much better, visually, remember your business audience may not really be interested in seeing what the expert looks like. They are more interested in understanding your source and logic. An image, especially a face, calls audience attention away from your message.

If you would like to create an interesting sticky note background for your text, read this effect tutorial here >>

Here are 5 alternate creative ways of representing quotes in PowerPoint:

Creative idea 1: break up the components of the quote:.

If the quote consists of 3 or 4 points which you want audience to pay attention to, you can break it up and show it clearly.  Here is the way we showcased a quote from an interview. The presentation slide plainly shows the key points of the expert’s comment.

This quote template is taken from our Lists Templates – PowerPoint Charts CEO Pack .

Creative idea 2: Use a creative text box

Call attention to the quote by using an innovative text box. In this example below, we used a platform with a stylish text box on top to call attention to a long-ish quote. If you use such long quotes when presenting, remember to allow your audience a few moments to read through before continuing your talk.

Read : How to create such a 3D platform in this PowerPoint tutorial.

Creative idea 3: Use a suitable image

Based on the nature of your presentation, you can use an image that doesn’t overpower your quote. In this case, we used a simple image of a light bulb to represent an important presentation idea.  What is the idea you want to convey with your quote?

Creative idea 4: Use innovative PowerPoint quotes box

Here are 2 simple ways to represent quotes in a quote box. The professional bevels, shading and colors make the quote box stand out.

Creative idea 5: Use Image backgrounds

You can find various public domain images or images from Microsoft Clipart collection to find suitable “blank” images. This will help you represent your ideas in a creative way.

You can use images of billboards, advertising spaces, brick walls etc. to present your PowerPoint quote creatively.

Conclusion about using quotes in PowerPoint:

Presenting quotes from experts or research results is a way to support your presentation ideas. Represent them creatively and keep your audience engaged and focused on your message. Related: PowerPoint Tutorial to Create Torn paper and burnt paper Effect for representing quotes

Return to Top of Creative PowerPoint Quotes

Share these tips & tutorials

Get 25 creative powerpoint ideas mini course &  members-only tips & offers. sign up for free below:.

Laying Out a Quote Slide in PowerPoint

In this exercise, you'll work on a Quote slide. The content in the old presentation is in the form of a bullet slide. We don't want to keep that format because it is so common. Let's do something creative with it instead.

Getting Started

1. In PowerPoint, go to File > Open to open the next project.

2. Open Quote Slide.pptx .

3. If you don't already have Content.pptx open, go ahead and open that now.

4. In the Slides list, click on Slide 4 . This is the quote we'll use in our new presentation.

Setting Up the Content

1. Go to the Quote Slide file. To switch windows:

• Mac: Go to Window > Quote Slide (or press Cmd–Tilde (~))
• Windows: In the View tab, click the Switch Windows button and choose Quote Slide.pptx (or press Alt-Tab).

2. Click on the What Is Coworking? slide (Slide 2). We do this so that when we add a new slide, it will go after this one.

3. Click on the Home tab if it's not already selected.

4. Click the arrow part of the New Slide button to show different slide templates.

5. From the list of slides, choose Blank .

6. Switch to the Insert tab and click the Text Box button.

7. On the slide, drag the cursor to create a medium-sized text box:

8. In the (Shape) Format tab, on the right, set Height to 3.24" and Width to 6.86."

9. To get the quote from the Content.pptx presentation, do the instruction for your platform (last time we are giving instructions on how to switch windows!):

10. In Content.pptx , highlight the quote that starts with Data from ... and ends with ...every major city.

11. Copy it.

12. Switch back to Quote Slide.pptx .

13. Do the instruction for your platform to paste the text:

• Mac: Go into Edit > Paste Special . In the dialog, choose Unformatted Text and click OK .
• Windows: Right-click on the second text box's bounding box and from the Paste Options, select Keep Text Only.

14. Click on the text box's bounding box so we can change the text formatting.

15. Align the text to the left. (In the Home tab, in the Paragraph section, click the Align Left button. Mac: You can also go to Format > Alignment > Align Left ).

16. In the Font section, click the Increase Font Size button  once to change the font size to 28 .

17. With the bounding box still selected, click the Bold button to remove the bold formatting.

18. Click the arrow part of the Font Color button, and under the second theme color, choose Blue-Gray, Text 1, Darker 25% (second from bottom).

19. Let's center the box on the page. With the bounding box still selected, in the Home tab, in the Drawing section, click the Arrange button and go to Align > Align Center . Alternatively, Mac users can choose Arrange > Align or Distribute > Align Center .

20. While holding Option (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows), drag the leftmost center resizing handle; drag it to the right until only the words major city are on the fifth line.

NOTE: Holding Option (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows) while dragging equally resizes multiple sides of a box (two if dragging from an edge resizing handle and all four sides if dragging from a corner resizing handle).

Formatting Lines

Let's create horizontal dividers above and below the text.

1. In the Insert tab, click the Shapes button, and under Lines , select the first one, Line .

2. Starting above the top-left corner of the text box, hold Shift and drag right to create a horizontal line.

3. Click the Arrange button and go to Align > Align Center .

4. Let's create another line under the text box. While holding Option–Shift (Mac) or Ctrl-Shift (Windows), click on the line and drag a duplicate under the text box. (If a menu appeared when you released your mouse, select Copy Here .)

5. Select both lines.

6. In the (Shape) Format tab to the right next to Width , click on the down arrow a few times to try it out:

7. Notice that the line width is only decreasing on one side, making the line off-center. Let's try a different method.

8. Get the lines back to normal by clicking the up arrow.

9. Right-click on one of the lines and select Group > Group .

10. Hold Option (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows) and drag the resize handle of either line left or right to adjust the size of the lines to match the length of the text box.

11. Use the example below to adjust the position of the lines:

12. Let's change the color of the lines. In the (Shape) Format tab, in the Shape Styles section, click the arrow part of the Shape Outline button (Mac) or (Windows) to reveal color options.

13. Select the fourth theme color, Dark Blue, Text 2 . Looking suave!

Adding Credentials

1. In the Insert tab, click the Text Box button.

2. To the lower right of the quote, drag out a small text box, as shown below:

3. Add to the box:

• Jennifer Bane
• Actionable Study Group

4. Adjust the box size until it is big enough to hold all the text.

5. Align the text to the right. As a reminder: In the Home tab's Paragraph section, click the Align Right button. You can also hit Cmd–R (Mac) or Ctrl–R (Windows).

6. Click into the text box and add an endash (–) and a space before the name so that the text reads: – Jennifer Bane . To type an endash, press Option–Hyphen (Mac) or Alt–Number pad 0150 (Windows).

NOTE: You can also add an endash this way:

• Mac: Insert menu > Symbol > Punctuation > En Dash .
• Mac 2: Insert tab > Symbol > Punctuation > En Dash .
• Windows: Insert tab > Symbol > Subset: General Punctuation > En Dash .

7. Select Actionable Study Group .

8. In the Home tab, click the arrow part of the Text Fill button and choose the fifth theme color, Lime, Accent 1 .

9. In the Home tab, click the Bold button to unbold the text.

10. Change the font size to 18 pt.

Adding Quotation Marks

Let's add some huge quotation marks.

1. On the top left of the slide, drag out a text box like the one shown below. Don't remember how to create a text box? In the Insert or Home tab, click the Text Box button.

2. Type a double quotation mark (").

3. Click on the bounding box so we can style it to our liking.

4. Make the font size 200 .

5. In the Home tab, click the arrow part of the Font Color button and under the seventh theme color in the fourth row, select Green, Accent 3, Lighter 40% . (This is the last time we're going to give explicit instructions on how to change font color!)

6. Select the quotation mark text's bounding box and copy it.

7. Paste it!

8. Arrange the quotation marks as shown below:

The quotation mark is facing the wrong direction. Let's rotate it 180 degrees.

9. Slightly above the text box, notice the white circular arrow . It enables us to rotate the selected object.

10. Hold Shift and drag the white circular arrow to rotate the quotation mark 180° . The end quotation mark is now correct.

11. Drag the text box to position the quotation mark slightly below the Actionable Study Group text.

Creating a New Master on the Fly

You may realize that you have several slides with the same type of quote. Time to make a master slide out of the quote slide for consistency.

1. Select all the objects on the slide.

2. Copy them.

3. Go into the View tab, then click the Slide Master button.

4. In the Slides list, click on the third slide down (Title and Content).

5. In the Slide Master tab, near the far left, click the Insert Layout button, and the new master will be added as the fourth slide.

6. Delete the title placeholder that shows up on the new slide.

7. Paste to place all quote the objects on the slide.

8. Change the Quote to say Quote text...

9. Change – Jennifer Bane to – Source .

10. Change Actionable Study Group to Company .

11. In the Slides list, Right-click on the slide and choose Rename (Mac) or Rename Layout (Windows). Name it Quote Slide and press Return/Enter .

12. Close the Slide Master by clicking its button.

13. In the Slides list, click on the last slide of the presentation so the slide we're about to add will go after it.

14. In the Home tab, click on the arrow part of the New Slide button.

15. Choose the new Quote Slide template (third one in the top row).

16. Now try to edit the text on that slide. You can't do it!

Fixing the Master Slide by Replacing Text Boxes with Editable Placeholders

The slide's text is not editable because those were just text boxes on the master page, and what we need are placeholders. So we need to go back to the master and add placeholders instead. Along the way, we'll need to style the text in the placeholders to match the text boxes. We'll do so quickly and easily using the Format Painter, which is like copying and pasting styles.

1. Go into the View tab, then click the Slide Master button.

2. In the Quote Slide master, click on the text box that says: Quote text...

3. In order to create a placeholder that's the same size as the text box, we need to see its dimensions. Right-click on the bounding box and choose Size and Position .

4. On the right, note the Width, Height, Horizontal position, and Vertical position. In real life, you would write these down. But for now we know they are around: Height: 3.01" Width: 6.3" Horizontal position: 1.85" Vertical position: 2.19"

5. In the Slide Master tab, click the arrow part of the Insert Placeholder button, and choose Text .

6. Draw a small box above the quote text box. It will be filled with Click to edit Master text styles , which indicates it's a placeholder.

7. Delete all the text from the placeholder.

8. There is still that pesky bullet sitting there. Right-click on it and choose Bullets then None.

9. Into the new placeholder, type: Quotation...

To copy the exact text formatting from the quotation in the text box to the word Quotation in the placeholder, we will use the Format Painter.

10. Place the cursor into any of the text in the main quotation (Quote text...).

11. Go to the Home tab, then near the far left, click Format  (Mac) or Format Painter  (Windows). The cursor will change to have a paintbrush next to it.

12. Click and drag with the paintbrush over the text Quotation... That takes care of the text formatting. One more thing.

13. In the Format Shape panel on the right, click on Text Options (near the top), then the Textbox button.

14. Under Vertical alignment , choose Middle .

15. Now we can delete the original text box with the Quote text... quotation. Go ahead and delete the big quote in the middle.

16. Right-click on the new Quotation... box and choose Size and Position .

17. Put in the following values (which are from the box we just deleted):

• Height: 3.01"
• Width: 6.3"
• Horizontal position: 1.85"
• Vertical position: 2.19"

18. Now let's test it out. Close the Slide Master (in the Slide Master tab).

19. Look at the quote slide you created that is not editable. Notice that the quote box is gone, but the new placeholder is also missing.

This is an essential thing to know about PowerPoint. When you add a new element to a master slide, it does not show up on existing slides. To get it to appear, we need to reapply the slide's layout. Let's do that next.

20. In the list of slides on the left, make sure the Quotation slide is selected.

21. In the Home tab, in the Slides section, click the Layout button.

22. Click on the Quote Slide template.

23. Hey, the new quote placeholder is now there, and editable. Type in a quote!

24. For more practice, let's create two more placeholders for the quote's attribution and the company name. Go back into the Slide Master  via the View tab.

25. In the Slide Master tab, click the arrow part of the Insert Placeholder button, and choose Text .

26. Draw a small box above the Source placeholder.

27. Delete all the text from the placeholder.

28. Right-click on the pesky bullet that's still there. Choose Bullets then None .

29. Into the new placeholder, type: – Attribution

30. To copy the exact text formatting from the – Source text box to the new placeholder's word – Attribution, we will use the Format Painter. Place the cursor in the – Source text.

31. Go to the Home tab, then click Format  (Mac) or Format Painter  (Windows) to get the paintbrush cursor.

32. Click and drag with the paintbrush over the text – Attribution . Great.

33. Align the text in that box to the right.

Now let's create a separate box for the company name (we have to do this because PowerPoint will only let us use one text style per placeholder box).

34. Draw a small text placeholder below the – Attribution placeholder. It will be filled with Click to edit Master text styles .

35. Delete all the text from the placeholder.

36. Right-click on the pesky bullet that's still there. Choose Bullets then None .

37. Into the new placeholder, type: Company Name

38. To copy the exact text formatting from the old text box to the new placeholder, we will use the Format Painter. Place the cursor in the Company text.

39. Go to the Home tab, then click Format (Mac) or Format Painter (Windows) to get the paintbrush cursor.

40. Click and drag with the paintbrush over the text Company Name .

41. Align the text in that box to the right.

42. Resize the two placeholders you just created to be snug around the text (but leave plenty of space on the left side in case the name typed into the box is long).

43. Now drag each of those placeholders right over the old text boxes. Move them by eye until they line up.

Deleting Objects That Are Obscured by Other Objects

The new placeholders are covering up the older group of text boxes, so how do we get rid of those two boxes? There are different solutions on Mac and Windows, so do the instructions for your platform.

Mac Users Only: The Reorder Objects Feature

Let us introduce you to the Reorder Objects feature, a nifty 3D tool that allows you to move and reorder several layers all at once!

1. Right-click on the bounding box of any object on the page.

2. Choose Reorder Objects . You will see a series of 3D panes that illustrate how the objects on your Quote Master are ordered.

3. Find the pane that has – Source and Company on it (probably around the sixth from the right).

4. Drag that pane to the right so it is the first pane.

5. Click OK to exit Reorder Objects.

6. Click off any boxes that might be selected.

7. To delete the – Source and Company text boxes, click on the group's bounding box and press the Delete key.

Windows Users Only: Using the Selection Pane

Let us introduce you to the Selection Pane, which allows you to rename and reorder the objects on your slide!

1. In the Home tab's Editing section on the far right, click the Select button and from the menu choose Selection Pane .

2. In the Selection Pane that appears on the right, find the two Group headings. These numbers differ between trials.

3. Click on the Group that has two TextBox objects nested inside. (It's probably on top of the other group, which contains the two dotted lines.)

4. We want to delete this, but let's first learn how we can rename objects on the slide. Double–click on the selected word Group, and the name will become editable.

5. Delete all the text, replace it with: Source & Company group , and press Enter .

TIP: Renaming objects in the Selection Pane is very handy when you plan on animating a slide with a lot of objects on it. If you do the final bonus exercise at the end of the book, you'll see that objects in PowerPoint's list of animations have names such as Rectangle. Renaming objects before animating can save you time in the long run so you know exactly what you're animating.

6. With Source & Company group still selected, press the Backspace key to delete the entire group.

Finishing Up

1. Close the Slide Master by clicking its button.

2. In the list of slides on the left, make sure the Quotation slide is still selected.

3. In the Home tab, in the Slides section, click the Layout button.

4. Click on the Quote Slide template.

5. Now enter some text into the attribution and company name placeholders.

6. Congrats on creating a new master. You can save and close the file now.

Master Microsoft Office

We offer the best Microsoft Office training in NYC. Learn how to create engaging presentations, generate reports on the fly, automate tasks, and more! Our expert instructors guide students of all levels through step-by-step projects with real-world applications. Sign up individually, or contact us about corporate training today:

• Microsoft Office courses NYC
• PowerPoint courses NYC
• Excel courses NYC

Related Resources

PowerPoint: Setting Up Master Slides

Using Master Slides enables you to easily establish a consistent, coordinated look throughout a presentation, and it saves you time and energy! In this exercise, you'll lay out the Slide Master, which serves as a template for all content slides.

PowerPoint: Testing Master Slides

In this exercise, you will test out both the Title Master and the Slide Master you customized to see them in action.

Using Images in PowerPoint

In this exercise, we will add a logo image to the Title Master. We'll also use the Line tool to create some visual separation from the logo and the titles.

Using Quotes to Influence Your Audience During a Presentation

April 26, 2023 / Blog

Quotes convey wisdom, inspiration, and credibility in just a few words. They can set the tone, evoke emotions , and reinforce your message.

Need a Presentation Designed? Click Here To View Our Amazing Portfolio

In this blog, we will explore using quotes to influence your audience during a presentation.

The Power of Quotes

Quotes can captivate and influence your audience in various ways. They can elevate your presentation to a whole new level when used strategically.

Here are some key ways in which quotes hold immense power:

Setting the Tone

Quotes can help you set the right tone for your presentation. For instance, an inspirational quote can create a positive and uplifting atmosphere, while a humorous quote can add levity and create a relaxed environment.

The tone you set at the beginning of your presentation can greatly impact your audience’s receptiveness to your message, and quotes can be a powerful tool in achieving that.

Eliciting Emotions

Quotes can evoke emotions in your audience, making your presentation more memorable and impactful.

Whether through a touching story, a heartfelt testimonial, or a powerful statement, quotes can tug at the heartstrings of your audience, helping them connect with your message on a deeper level. Emotionally charged quotes can make your presentation more relatable, engaging, and compelling.

Adding Credibility

Quotes from influential figures or reputable sources can add credibility and authority to your presentation.

By referencing experts, industry leaders, or renowned individuals, you can strengthen your arguments and lend more weight to your message. Quotes can act as evidence or proof to support your claims, making your presentation more convincing.

Concise Communication

Quotes are often concise and impactful, conveying a powerful message in just a few words.

Attention spans are becoming shorter and quotes are effective tools to communicate key ideas succinctly. They can help you convey complex concepts or ideas in a memorable and easily digestible manner, keeping your audience engaged and attentive.

Memorable Impact

A well-chosen quote can leave a lasting impact on your audience.

When you use a quote that resonates with your audience, it becomes memorable, and your audience is more likely to remember and recall your message long after the presentation. Quotes can help you make a lasting impression and ensure a memorable and impactful presentation.

Best Practices for Using Quotes in Your Presentation

While quotes can be a powerful tool in your presentation, it’s important to use them effectively and appropriately.

Here are some best practices to keep in mind when incorporating quotes into your presentation:

Know Your Audience

Consider your audience’s demographics, preferences, and context when selecting quotes. Choose relevant quotes that resonate with your specific audience. Avoid ones that may be offensive, controversial, or irrelevant to your audience, as they may detract from your message.

Use Reliable Sources

Ensure that the quotes you use are from reputable and reliable sources. Moreover, attribute the quote to the original author or speaker, and provide proper citations if needed. Avoid using quotes from anonymous or unknown sources, as they may lack credibility.

Keep it Concise

Choose quotes that are concise and impactful. Avoid lengthy ones that may dilute your message or lose your audience’s attention. Instead, opt for ones that can be easily understood and remembered, and that align with the overall flow of your presentation.

Contextualize the Quote

Provide context when using a quote to help your audience understand its relevance to your presentation. Explain how the quote supports your message or relates to the topic. Avoid using quotes out of context, as they may confuse or mislead your audience.

Practice Delivery

Practice delivering your quotes with proper tone, emphasis, and timing. Use appropriate gestures, facial expressions, and vocal inflections to enhance the impact of the quotes. Avoid rushing through them or reading them monotonously, as they may lose their intended effect.

Use Variety

Incorporate a variety of quotes in your presentation, including inspirational, motivational, humorous, and thought-provoking quotes. Mix up the type of quotes you use to keep your audience engaged and add depth and diversity to your presentation.

Be Authentic

Choose quotes that resonate with your style and voice. Avoid using ones that feel forced or insincere, as they may come across as inauthentic. Rather, use ones that genuinely reflect your beliefs and values to connect with your audience on a deeper level.

Practice Proper Attribution

Always give credit to the original author or speaker of the quote. Avoid taking credit for someone else’s words or ideas. Use proper attribution methods, including the author’s name, title, and source, to acknowledge and honor their work.

Using quotes strategically and effectively in your presentations can be a game-changer. By following best practices and incorporating powerful quotes into your presentation, you can connect with your audience more and leave a lasting impact that influences and inspires.

Popular Posts

Save your deck: methods to recover an unsaved powerpoint file.

Twitter: Lessons from Social Media

Oscar Speech Sounds A Lot Like…..

Olympians Can Teach Presenters a Thing or Two

Overcoming a Public Speaking Disaster: A Lesson from Michael Bay

The Similarities Between Presentations and Advertisments : Super Bowl Edition

How to Create the Perfect Quotes Slide (with Examples)

Table of contents, what is a quotes slide.

A quotes slide is a PowerPoint slide that highlights one or more customer quotes. It is generally used to communicate one or more customer’s opinions word-for-word.

When should you use a quotes slide?

In most cases, consulting slide decks use quantitative data (i.e. numbers) to make their arguments. However, there are some situations where using qualitative data (such as quotes) is more powerful.

Quotes slides should be used when you want to communicate things like opinions, attitudes, beliefs, or preferences. They are a powerful way to communicate a message directly “from the horses mouth” with no analysis or synthesis to cloud the message.

They are particularly useful when communicating the results of customer research or highlighting customer testimonials. Because of this, they are often paired with one-on-one interviews, focus groups, observational studies, and other forms of qualitative research.

Best practices and key characteristics

Although you have quite a bit of flexibility when designing quotes slides, there are some best practices you should follow to ensure they are clear and compelling:

• Highlight key parts of quotes:  When quoting verbatim, your customer might not be as concise as you’d like. So you should highlight the key insights within the quotes with a different text color or background color.
• Shorten quotes sensibly:  It is fine to shorten quotes and remove redundant phrases, but you should follow proper stylistic guidelines (e.g. using ellipses or “…” correctly) and maintain your customer’s key message.
• Reference all of your quotes: Every quote should reference the customer name (or anonymous identifier) and any other key characteristic, such as their business name, occupation, or another important grouping.
• Group similar quotes together:  If you’re communicating multiple customer opinions together on one slide, you should group quotes with similar opinions together.
• Use the minimum number of quotes possible: Don’t be tempted to throw as many quotes as possible on your slide, you should identify the most powerful quotes and use the minimum number to make your point — otherwise your slide gets messy and confuses its message.

Download 120+ strategy consulting presentations for free

Looking for slide inspiration? Download 120+ consulting slide decks from top strategy consulting firms, such as McKinsey, BCG and Bain!

Example quotes slides

Let’s take a look at a range of example quotes slides from both consulting firms and other sources.

If you’re interested in checking out more slides from consulting firms, such as McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Kearney, L.E.K Consulting and others, then check out our strategy consulting slide library .

How To Write A Presentation 101 | Step-by-Step Guides with Best Examples | 2024 Reveals

Jane Ng • 05 April, 2024 • 11 min read

Is it difficult to start of presentation? You’re standing before a room full of eager listeners, ready to share your knowledge and captivate their attention. But where do you begin? How do you structure your ideas and convey them effectively?

Take a deep breath, and fear not! In this article, we’ll provide a road map on how to write a presentation covering everything from crafting a script to creating an engaging introduction.

So, let’s dive in!

Table of Contents

What is a presentation , what should be in a powerful presentation.

• How To Write A Presentation Script
• How to Write A Presentation Introduction 

Key Takeaways

Tips for better presentation.

• How to start a presentation
• How to introduce yourself

Start in seconds.

Get free templates for your next interactive presentation. Sign up for free and take what you want from the template library!

Presentations are all about connecting with your audience. 

Presenting is a fantastic way to share information, ideas, or arguments with your audience. Think of it as a structured approach to effectively convey your message. And you’ve got options such as slideshows, speeches, demos, videos, and even multimedia presentations!

The purpose of a presentation can vary depending on the situation and what the presenter wants to achieve. 

• In the business world, presentations are commonly used to pitch proposals, share reports, or make sales pitches. 
• In educational settings, presentations are a go-to for teaching or delivering engaging lectures. 
• For conferences, seminars, and public events—presentations are perfect for dishing out information, inspiring folks, or even persuading the audience.

That sounds brilliant. But, how to write a presentation?

• Clear and Engaging Introduction: Start your presentation with a bang! Hook your audience’s attention right from the beginning by using a captivating story, a surprising fact, a thought-provoking question, or a powerful quote. Clearly state the purpose of your presentation and establish a connection with your listeners.
• Well-Structured Content: Organize your content logically and coherently. Divide your presentation into sections or main points and provide smooth transitions between them. Each section should flow seamlessly into the next, creating a cohesive narrative. Use clear headings and subheadings to guide your audience through the presentation.
• Compelling Visuals: Incorporate visual aids, such as images, graphs, or videos, to enhance your presentation. Make sure your visuals are visually appealing, relevant, and easy to understand. Use a clean and uncluttered design with legible fonts and appropriate color schemes. 
• Engaging Delivery: Pay attention to your delivery style and body language. You should maintain eye contact with your audience, use gestures to emphasize key points, and vary your tone of voice to keep the presentation dynamic. 
• Clear and Memorable Conclusion: Leave your audience with a lasting impression by providing a strong closing statement, a call to action, or a thought-provoking question. Make sure your conclusion ties back to your introduction and reinforces the core message of your presentation.

How To Write A Presentation Script (With Examples)

To successfully convey your message to your audience, you must carefully craft and organize your presentation script. Here are steps on how to write a presentation script: 

1/ Understand Your Purpose and Audience

• Clarify the purpose of your presentation. Are you informing, persuading, or entertaining?
• Identify your target audience and their knowledge level, interests, and expectations.
• Define what presentation format you want to use

2/ Outline the Structure of Your Presentation

Strong opening.

Start with an engaging opening that grabs the audience’s attention and introduces your topic. Some types of openings you can use are: 

• Start with a Thought-Provoking Question: “Have you ever…?”
• Begin with a Surprising Fact or Statistic: “Did you know that….?”
• Use a Powerful Quote: “As Maya Angelou once said,….”
• Tell a Compelling Story : “Picture this: You’re standing at….”
• Start with a Bold Statement: “In the fast-paced digital age….”

Main Points

Clearly state your main points or key ideas that you will discuss throughout the presentation.

• Clearly State the Purpose and Main Points: Example: “In this presentation, we will delve into three key areas. First,… Next,… Finally,…. we’ll discuss….”
• Provide Background and Context: Example: “Before we dive into the details, let’s understand the basics of…..”
• Present Supporting Information and Examples: Example: “To illustrate…., let’s look at an example. In,…..”
• Address Counterarguments or Potential Concerns: Example: “While…, we must also consider… .”
• Recap Key Points and Transition to the Next Section: Example: “To summarize, we’ve… Now, let’s shift our focus to…”

Remember to organize your content logically and coherently, ensuring smooth transitions between sections.

You can conclude with a strong closing statement summarizing your main points and leaving a lasting impression. Example: “As we conclude our presentation, it’s clear that… By…., we can….”

3/ Craft Clear and Concise Sentences

Once you’ve outlined your presentation, you need to edit your sentences. Use clear and straightforward language to ensure your message is easily understood.

Alternatively, you can break down complex ideas into simpler concepts and provide clear explanations or examples to aid comprehension.

4/ Use Visual Aids and Supporting Materials

Use supporting materials such as statistics, research findings, or real-life examples to back up your points and make them more compelling. 

• Example: “As you can see from this graph,… This demonstrates….”

5/ Include Engagement Techniques

Incorporate interactive elements to engage your audience, such as Q&A sessions , conducting live polls, or encouraging participation. You can also spin more funs into group, by randomly dividing people into different groups to get more diverse feedbacks!

6/ Rehearse and Revise

• Practice delivering your presentation script to familiarize yourself with the content and improve your delivery.
• Revise and edit your script as needed, removing any unnecessary information or repetitions.

7/ Seek Feedback

You can share your script or deliver a practice presentation to a trusted friend, colleague, or mentor to gather feedback on your script and make adjustments accordingly.

More on Script Presentation

How to Write A Presentation Introduction with Examples

How to write presentations that are engaging and visually appealing? Looking for introduction ideas for the presentation? As mentioned earlier, once you have completed your script, it’s crucial to focus on editing and refining the most critical element—the opening of your presentation – the section that determines whether you can captivate and retain your audience’s attention right from the start. 

Here is a guide on how to craft an opening that grabs your audience’s attention from the very first minute: 

1/ Start with a Hook

To begin, you can choose from five different openings mentioned in the script based on your desired purpose and content. Alternatively, you can opt for the approach that resonates with you the most, and instills your confidence. Remember, the key is to choose a starting point that aligns with your objectives and allows you to deliver your message effectively.

2/ Establish Relevance and Context

Then you should establish the topic of your presentation and explain why it is important or relevant to your audience. Connect the topic to their interests, challenges, or aspirations to create a sense of relevance.

3/ State the Purpose

Clearly articulate the purpose or goal of your presentation. Let the audience know what they can expect to gain or achieve by listening to your presentation.

4/ Preview Your Main Points

Give a brief overview of the main points or sections you will cover in your presentation. It helps the audience understand the structure and flow of your presentation and creates anticipation.

5/ Establish Credibility

Share your expertise or credentials related to the topic to build trust with the audience, such as a brief personal story, relevant experience, or mentioning your professional background.

6/ Engage Emotionally

Connect emotional levels with your audience by appealing to their aspirations, fears, desires, or values. They help create a deeper connection and engagement from the very beginning.

Make sure your introduction is concise and to the point. Avoid unnecessary details or lengthy explanations. Aim for clarity and brevity to maintain the audience’s attention.

For example, Topic: Work-life balance

“Good morning, everyone! Can you imagine waking up each day feeling energized and ready to conquer both your personal and professional pursuits? Well, that’s exactly what we’ll explore today – the wonderful world of work-life balance. In a fast-paced society where work seems to consume every waking hour, it’s vital to find that spot where our careers and personal lives harmoniously coexist. Throughout this presentation, we’ll dive into practical strategies that help us achieve that coveted balance, boost productivity, and nurture our overall well-being. 

But before we dive in, let me share a bit about my journey. As a working professional and a passionate advocate for work-life balance, I have spent years researching and implementing strategies that have transformed my own life. I am excited to share my knowledge and experiences with all of you today, with the hope of inspiring positive change and creating a more fulfilling work-life balance for everyone in this room. So, let’s get started!”

🎉 Check out: How to Start a Presentation?

Whether you’re a seasoned speaker or new to the stage, understanding how to write a presentation that conveys your message effectively is a valuable skill. By following the steps in this guide, you can become a captivating presenter and make your mark in every presentation you deliver.

Additionally, AhaSlides can significantly enhance your presentation’s impact. With AhaSlides, you can use live polls , quizzes , and word cloud to turn your presentation into an engaging and interactive experience. Let’s take a moment to explore our vast template library !

Frequently Asked Questions

How to write a presentation step by step .

You can refer to our step-by-step guide on How To Write A Presentation Script: Understand Your Purpose and Audience Outline the Structure of Your Presentation Craft Clear and Concise Sentences Use Visual Aids and Supporting Material Include Engagement Techniques Rehearse and Revise Seek Feedback

How do you start a presentation? 

You can start with an engaging opening that grabs the audience’s attention and introduces your topic. Consider using one of the following approaches: Start with a Thought-Provoking Question: “Have you ever…?” Begin with a Surprising Fact or Statistic: “Did you know that….?” Use a Powerful Quote: “As Maya Angelou once said,….” Tell a Compelling Story : “Picture this: You’re standing at….” Start with a Bold Statement: “In the fast-paced digital age….”

What are the five parts of a presentation?

When it comes to presentation writing, a typical presentation consists of the following five parts: Introduction: Capturing the audience’s attention, introducing yourself, stating the purpose, and providing an overview. Main Body: Presenting main points, evidence, examples, and arguments. Visual Aids: Using visuals to enhance understanding and engage the audience. Conclusion: Summarizing main points, restating key message, and leaving a memorable takeaway or call to action. Q&A or Discussion: Optional part for addressing questions and encouraging audience participation.

A writer who wants to create practical and valuable content for the audience

Tips to Engage with Polls & Trivia

More from AhaSlides

We use essential cookies to make Venngage work. By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.

Manage Cookies

Cookies and similar technologies collect certain information about how you’re using our website. Some of them are essential, and without them you wouldn’t be able to use Venngage. But others are optional, and you get to choose whether we use them or not.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are always on, as they’re essential for making Venngage work, and making it safe. Without these cookies, services you’ve asked for can’t be provided.

Show cookie providers

• Google Login

Functionality Cookies

These cookies help us provide enhanced functionality and personalisation, and remember your settings. They may be set by us or by third party providers.

Performance Cookies

These cookies help us analyze how many people are using Venngage, where they come from and how they're using it. If you opt out of these cookies, we can’t get feedback to make Venngage better for you and all our users.

• Google Analytics

Targeting Cookies

These cookies are set by our advertising partners to track your activity and show you relevant Venngage ads on other sites as you browse the internet.

• Google Tag Manager
• Infographics
• Daily Infographics
• Popular Templates
• Accessibility
• Graphic Design
• Graphs and Charts
• Data Visualization
• Human Resources
• Beginner Guides

Blog Beginner Guides How To Make a Good Presentation [A Complete Guide]

How To Make a Good Presentation [A Complete Guide]

Written by: Krystle Wong Jul 20, 2023

A top-notch presentation possesses the power to drive action. From winning stakeholders over and conveying a powerful message to securing funding — your secret weapon lies within the realm of creating an effective presentation .  

Being an excellent presenter isn’t confined to the boardroom. Whether you’re delivering a presentation at work, pursuing an academic career, involved in a non-profit organization or even a student, nailing the presentation game is a game-changer.

In this article, I’ll cover the top qualities of compelling presentations and walk you through a step-by-step guide on how to give a good presentation. Here’s a little tip to kick things off: for a headstart, check out Venngage’s collection of free presentation templates . They are fully customizable, and the best part is you don’t need professional design skills to make them shine!

These valuable presentation tips cater to individuals from diverse professional backgrounds, encompassing business professionals, sales and marketing teams, educators, trainers, students, researchers, non-profit organizations, public speakers and presenters. 

No matter your field or role, these tips for presenting will equip you with the skills to deliver effective presentations that leave a lasting impression on any audience.

Click to jump ahead:

What are the 10 qualities of a good presentation?

Step-by-step guide on how to prepare an effective presentation, 9 effective techniques to deliver a memorable presentation, faqs on making a good presentation, how to create a presentation with venngage in 5 steps.

When it comes to giving an engaging presentation that leaves a lasting impression, it’s not just about the content — it’s also about how you deliver it. Wondering what makes a good presentation? Well, the best presentations I’ve seen consistently exhibit these 10 qualities:

1. Clear structure

No one likes to get lost in a maze of information. Organize your thoughts into a logical flow, complete with an introduction, main points and a solid conclusion. A structured presentation helps your audience follow along effortlessly, leaving them with a sense of satisfaction at the end.

Regardless of your presentation style , a quality presentation starts with a clear roadmap. Browse through Venngage’s template library and select a presentation template that aligns with your content and presentation goals. Here’s a good presentation example template with a logical layout that includes sections for the introduction, main points, supporting information and a conclusion: 

2. Engaging opening

Hook your audience right from the start with an attention-grabbing statement, a fascinating question or maybe even a captivating anecdote. Set the stage for a killer presentation!

The opening moments of your presentation hold immense power – check out these 15 ways to start a presentation to set the stage and captivate your audience.

3. Relevant content

Make sure your content aligns with their interests and needs. Your audience is there for a reason, and that’s to get valuable insights. Avoid fluff and get straight to the point, your audience will be genuinely excited.

4. Effective visual aids

Picture this: a slide with walls of text and tiny charts, yawn! Visual aids should be just that—aiding your presentation. Opt for clear and visually appealing slides, engaging images and informative charts that add value and help reinforce your message.

With Venngage, visualizing data takes no effort at all. You can import data from CSV or Google Sheets seamlessly and create stunning charts, graphs and icon stories effortlessly to showcase your data in a captivating and impactful way.

5. Clear and concise communication

Keep your language simple, and avoid jargon or complicated terms. Communicate your ideas clearly, so your audience can easily grasp and retain the information being conveyed. This can prevent confusion and enhance the overall effectiveness of the message. 

6. Engaging delivery

Spice up your presentation with a sprinkle of enthusiasm! Maintain eye contact, use expressive gestures and vary your tone of voice to keep your audience glued to the edge of their seats. A touch of charisma goes a long way!

7. Interaction and audience engagement

Turn your presentation into an interactive experience — encourage questions, foster discussions and maybe even throw in a fun activity. Engaged audiences are more likely to remember and embrace your message.

Transform your slides into an interactive presentation with Venngage’s dynamic features like pop-ups, clickable icons and animated elements. Engage your audience with interactive content that lets them explore and interact with your presentation for a truly immersive experience.

8. Effective storytelling

Who doesn’t love a good story? Weaving relevant anecdotes, case studies or even a personal story into your presentation can captivate your audience and create a lasting impact. Stories build connections and make your message memorable.

A great presentation background is also essential as it sets the tone, creates visual interest and reinforces your message. Enhance the overall aesthetics of your presentation with these 15 presentation background examples and captivate your audience’s attention.

9. Well-timed pacing

Pace your presentation thoughtfully with well-designed presentation slides, neither rushing through nor dragging it out. Respect your audience’s time and ensure you cover all the essential points without losing their interest.

10. Strong conclusion

Last impressions linger! Summarize your main points and leave your audience with a clear takeaway. End your presentation with a bang , a call to action or an inspiring thought that resonates long after the conclusion.

In-person presentations aside, acing a virtual presentation is of paramount importance in today’s digital world. Check out this guide to learn how you can adapt your in-person presentations into virtual presentations . 

Preparing an effective presentation starts with laying a strong foundation that goes beyond just creating slides and notes. One of the quickest and best ways to make a presentation would be with the help of a good presentation software . 

Otherwise, let me walk you to how to prepare for a presentation step by step and unlock the secrets of crafting a professional presentation that sets you apart.

1. Understand the audience and their needs

Before you dive into preparing your masterpiece, take a moment to get to know your target audience. Tailor your presentation to meet their needs and expectations , and you’ll have them hooked from the start!

2. Conduct thorough research on the topic

Time to hit the books (or the internet)! Don’t skimp on the research with your presentation materials — dive deep into the subject matter and gather valuable insights . The more you know, the more confident you’ll feel in delivering your presentation.

3. Organize the content with a clear structure

No one wants to stumble through a chaotic mess of information. Outline your presentation with a clear and logical flow. Start with a captivating introduction, follow up with main points that build on each other and wrap it up with a powerful conclusion that leaves a lasting impression.

Delivering an effective business presentation hinges on captivating your audience, and Venngage’s professionally designed business presentation templates are tailor-made for this purpose. With thoughtfully structured layouts, these templates enhance your message’s clarity and coherence, ensuring a memorable and engaging experience for your audience members.

Don’t want to build your presentation layout from scratch? pick from these 5 foolproof presentation layout ideas that won’t go wrong. 

4. Develop visually appealing and supportive visual aids

Spice up your presentation with eye-catching visuals! Create slides that complement your message, not overshadow it. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words, but that doesn’t mean you need to overload your slides with text.

Well-chosen designs create a cohesive and professional look, capturing your audience’s attention and enhancing the overall effectiveness of your message. Here’s a list of carefully curated PowerPoint presentation templates and great background graphics that will significantly influence the visual appeal and engagement of your presentation.

5. Practice, practice and practice

Practice makes perfect — rehearse your presentation and arrive early to your presentation to help overcome stage fright. Familiarity with your material will boost your presentation skills and help you handle curveballs with ease.

6. Seek feedback and make necessary adjustments

Don’t be afraid to ask for help and seek feedback from friends and colleagues. Constructive criticism can help you identify blind spots and fine-tune your presentation to perfection.

With Venngage’s real-time collaboration feature , receiving feedback and editing your presentation is a seamless process. Group members can access and work on the presentation simultaneously and edit content side by side in real-time. Changes will be reflected immediately to the entire team, promoting seamless teamwork.

7. Prepare for potential technical or logistical issues

Prepare for the unexpected by checking your equipment, internet connection and any other potential hiccups. If you’re worried that you’ll miss out on any important points, you could always have note cards prepared. Remember to remain focused and rehearse potential answers to anticipated questions.

8. Fine-tune and polish your presentation

As the big day approaches, give your presentation one last shine. Review your talking points, practice how to present a presentation and make any final tweaks. Deep breaths — you’re on the brink of delivering a successful presentation!

In competitive environments, persuasive presentations set individuals and organizations apart. To brush up on your presentation skills, read these guides on how to make a persuasive presentation and tips to presenting effectively . 

Whether you’re an experienced presenter or a novice, the right techniques will let your presentation skills soar to new heights!

From public speaking hacks to interactive elements and storytelling prowess, these 9 effective presentation techniques will empower you to leave a lasting impression on your audience and make your presentations unforgettable.

1. Confidence and positive body language

Positive body language instantly captivates your audience, making them believe in your message as much as you do. Strengthen your stage presence and own that stage like it’s your second home! Stand tall, shoulders back and exude confidence. 

2. Eye contact with the audience

Break down that invisible barrier and connect with your audience through their eyes. Maintaining eye contact when giving a presentation builds trust and shows that you’re present and engaged with them.

3. Effective use of hand gestures and movement

A little movement goes a long way! Emphasize key points with purposeful gestures and don’t be afraid to walk around the stage. Your energy will be contagious!

4. Utilize storytelling techniques

Weave the magic of storytelling into your presentation. Share relatable anecdotes, inspiring success stories or even personal experiences that tug at the heartstrings of your audience. Adjust your pitch, pace and volume to match the emotions and intensity of the story. Varying your speaking voice adds depth and enhances your stage presence.

5. Incorporate multimedia elements

Spice up your presentation with a dash of visual pizzazz! Use slides, images and video clips to add depth and clarity to your message. Just remember, less is more—don’t overwhelm them with information overload. 

Turn your presentations into an interactive party! Involve your audience with questions, polls or group activities. When they actively participate, they become invested in your presentation’s success. Bring your design to life with animated elements. Venngage allows you to apply animations to icons, images and text to create dynamic and engaging visual content.

6. Utilize humor strategically

Laughter is the best medicine—and a fantastic presentation enhancer! A well-placed joke or lighthearted moment can break the ice and create a warm atmosphere , making your audience more receptive to your message.

7. Practice active listening and respond to feedback

Be attentive to your audience’s reactions and feedback. If they have questions or concerns, address them with genuine interest and respect. Your responsiveness builds rapport and shows that you genuinely care about their experience.

8. Apply the 10-20-30 rule

Apply the 10-20-30 presentation rule and keep it short, sweet and impactful! Stick to ten slides, deliver your presentation within 20 minutes and use a 30-point font to ensure clarity and focus. Less is more, and your audience will thank you for it!

9. Implement the 5-5-5 rule

Simplicity is key. Limit each slide to five bullet points, with only five words per bullet point and allow each slide to remain visible for about five seconds. This rule keeps your presentation concise and prevents information overload.

Simple presentations are more engaging because they are easier to follow. Summarize your presentations and keep them simple with Venngage’s gallery of simple presentation templates and ensure that your message is delivered effectively across your audience.

1. How to start a presentation?

To kick off your presentation effectively, begin with an attention-grabbing statement or a powerful quote. Introduce yourself, establish credibility and clearly state the purpose and relevance of your presentation.

2. How to end a presentation?

For a strong conclusion, summarize your talking points and key takeaways. End with a compelling call to action or a thought-provoking question and remember to thank your audience and invite any final questions or interactions.

3. How to make a presentation interactive?

To make your presentation interactive, encourage questions and discussion throughout your talk. Utilize multimedia elements like videos or images and consider including polls, quizzes or group activities to actively involve your audience.

In need of inspiration for your next presentation? I’ve got your back! Pick from these 120+ presentation ideas, topics and examples to get started. 

Creating a stunning presentation with Venngage is a breeze with our user-friendly drag-and-drop editor and professionally designed templates for all your communication needs. 

Here’s how to make a presentation in just 5 simple steps with the help of Venngage:

Step 1: Sign up for Venngage for free using your email, Gmail or Facebook account or simply log in to access your account. 

Step 2: Pick a design from our selection of free presentation templates (they’re all created by our expert in-house designers).

Step 3: Make the template your own by customizing it to fit your content and branding. With Venngage’s intuitive drag-and-drop editor, you can easily modify text, change colors and adjust the layout to create a unique and eye-catching design.

Step 4: Elevate your presentation by incorporating captivating visuals. You can upload your images or choose from Venngage’s vast library of high-quality photos, icons and illustrations. 

Step 5: Upgrade to a premium or business account to export your presentation in PDF and print it for in-person presentations or share it digitally for free!

By following these five simple steps, you’ll have a professionally designed and visually engaging presentation ready in no time. With Venngage’s user-friendly platform, your presentation is sure to make a lasting impression. So, let your creativity flow and get ready to shine in your next presentation!

Discover popular designs

Infographic maker

Brochure maker

White paper online

Newsletter creator

Flyer maker

Timeline maker

Letterhead maker

Mind map maker

Ebook maker

• The Buckley Experience
• Our Clients
• Registration
• Finding Our School
• On-Site Training
• Writing and Organizing
• Business Etiquette
• Private Coaching
• Virtual Training
• Course Calendar
• Media Training
• Writing & Editing
• Presentation Development
• Company Retreats
• Video Reviews

January 16, 2023

Quotes: How to Mark them in a Presentation

Quotations are included in many a speech and presentation, for any number of reasons. We've weighed in on why you might not want to go with a quote. And there are plenty of online sources ready to help you use quotation marks correctly in a printed document.

When you do use quotes in a speech or presentation, you can avoid a few common missteps by pausing to consider these three things.

1. PowerPoint punctuation

For some reason, we see a lot of unnecessary quotation marks on PowerPoint slides. For example, one speaker we recently worked with had created something common in many workplaces, a toolbox for her healthcare co-workers. Of course, she did not mean a toolbox that contained a wrench and hammer. She had created an app that contained a number of forms and guides that her co-workers could use every day.

Every time she referred to the toolbox on a PowerPoint slide, she put it in quotation marks – something that not only seemed unnecessary to us but that we felt undermined her presentation. Why? One, it wasn't a title. And two, it was clear she didn't mean a handyman's toolbox. 

Here's what Grammarly says about putting quotation marks around a single word used in this way:

Quotation marks around single words can occasionally be used for emphasis, but only when quoting a word or term someone else used. Usually, this implies that the author doesn't agree with the use of the term.

When reviewing your deck, look out for unneeded quotation marks. Yes, use them if you are directly quoting another person's words. But take care for anything else. While it can feel like emphasis to you, it can feel like you're mocking yourself, especially to the punctuation snobs in the room. 

2. Air quotes as a gesture

Speakers often throw these in when they're quoting someone, to give the audience a visual cue that the speaker's words aren't their own.

We're fans of descriptive gestures , but before holding up both hands and executing the air quote sign, be sure it's going to come across the way you intend.

Air quotes – sometimes also called finger quotes – tend to suggest you don't agree with or are being sarcastic about what you're saying. So when you put air quotes around "genius," for example, you don't appear to be quoting someone else's words about a person. You seem to be suggesting the person is anything but brilliant.

Not sure what we mean? This funny video  depicts the problem (though if you're f-bomb sensitive, you might not want to click on that link.)

Instead of using the air quote gesture, there are better ways to show you're using a quote in a speech. Read on. 

3. Quotes when speaking

There are a few techniques for indicating that you're quoting someone else in your speech. It's an important distinction to make, too. Audiences want to know which are your words and which belong to someone else.

One way is to begin with quote  and conclude with end quote . It’s not elegant, and it works. For example:

Shakespeare said, quote: "Expectation is the root of all heartache." End quote.

A variation on that is to use quote-unquote . It might go something like this:

Shakespeare said that expectation, quote unquote, "is the root of all heartache."

Another, less hit-them-over-the-head approach is to state the source, deliver the quote, and pause deliberately after the quote has ended. You might further clarify the difference with a transitional phrase. So you could have something like:

Shakespeare said "Expectation is the root of all heartache." [pause]  Or as I've modified this idea after years of dating: Low expectations are the key happiness.  

One way you can visually cue an audience that you're quoting someone else is to have a card or piece of paper with the quote on it. You then pick up the card, read the quote from it, and put the card down when you've finished the quote. This bit of theater gives a clear indication that you are presenting someone else's words. So with this approach, you'd:

Say: Shakespeare said...

Do: Lift up a card so the audience can see it, perhaps even point to the line with the index finger of your other hand as you read from the card....

Say: Expectation is the root of all heartache.

Do: Put the card down after you finish reading the quote.

Considerations for any quotes you may use

If you are going to present a quote on PowerPoint or in a speech, a shorter quote—or an excerpt from a longer statement—is going to be easier to manage. Ask yourself if you need the entire sentence on the screen, for example, to make your point. 

When attributing your quote, think about the source and how to set it up. Is the person you're quoting a household name (Shakespeare, Oprah) or a person known to only a few in your audience?

If the name doesn't carry instant recognition, it helps to provide very brief context ("an acclaimed expert on efficiency," for example) when you name your source.

Don't get sucked into the idea that every speech and presentation needs a quote. Your ideas and your words can be enough.

If you do choose to use a quote, be sure to take these research steps into account before deploying it.

And if you're delivering an academic presentation, here's advice on how to deliver quotes with citations in that realm.

• Executive Seminar
• Open Enrollment

Share this article

Buckley Speaking

Our online magazine with tips, news, and instruction for you

• + The Vault , Storytelling

Using Quotes in Presentations

• By: Scott Schwertly

Using secondary sources in the form of quotes during your presentation is effective because it adds credibility to your story, to your argument. It’s English 101: discuss a façade of your argument, then use a quote to support that point. The same technique can be used in a presentation to nuance and support the argument at hand. If you aren’t a known expert in the field you are discussing, it doesn’t hurt to quote from someone who is to support your claim.

A few guidelines should be followed when employing quotes in presentations, the first of which is don’t be cliché. Don’t use a quote that can be found in a fortune cookie. Don’t use a quote that will cause the audience to roll its eyes. Be original and be epic. Using a quote in a presentation should be a special occurrence, not the norm. Choose one or two that have a lingering effect, something that the audience will remember.

Again with the English 101– make sure the quote is appropriate for the subject and most importantly, make sure it adds something to the presentation. Don’t choose something that just adds time, sounds nice or fills space. Never include a superfluous quote; it will detract from your presentation, and worse, distract the audience.

Testimonials are a great way of using quotes to show the effect of a product or service. Choose the most significant, influential testimonials possible. Find testimonials that say something important in a quick, powerful way. Again, ensure that what they add is an essential point to be made in the presentation. And don’t overload a presentation with testimonials. Choose the most compelling and stick with those few . Anymore than that is grandiose and unnecessary.

Quotes should be short and to the point, especially if the words are on a slide. Too many words will fluster the audience into rushing to read through the entire quote, and it will have a less powerful effect. Present the quote, allow the audience time to hear and read the quote, and then reinforce the quote’s meaning.

The use of secondary sources shouldn’t be confined to quotes only. It’s important to nuance arguments, to show as many sides of the argument as possible with as much support as possible, and this can be done by alluding to secondary sources. As we discussed a couple weeks ago , Chimamanda Adiche does a masterful job of this in her TEDGlobal talk on the single story. She complicates, supports and strengthens her arguments by including quotes and by referencing influential people during her talk.

When used effectively, quotes can nuance, support and enrich a presentation. How have you used quotes to supplement your presentation?

Scott Schwertly

Join our newsletter today.

© 2006-2024 Ethos3 – An Award Winning Presentation Design and Training Company ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

• Terms & Conditions
• Privacy Policy
• Diversity and Inclusion

30 Examples: How to Conclude a Presentation (Effective Closing Techniques)

By Status.net Editorial Team on March 4, 2024 — 9 minutes to read

Ending a presentation on a high note is a skill that can set you apart from the rest. It’s the final chance to leave an impact on your audience, ensuring they walk away with the key messages embedded in their minds. This moment is about driving your points home and making sure they resonate. Crafting a memorable closing isn’t just about summarizing key points, though that’s part of it, but also about providing value that sticks with your listeners long after they’ve left the room.

Crafting Your Core Message

To leave a lasting impression, your presentation’s conclusion should clearly reflect your core message. This is your chance to reinforce the takeaways and leave the audience thinking about your presentation long after it ends.

Identifying Key Points

Start by recognizing what you want your audience to remember. Think about the main ideas that shaped your talk. Make a list like this:

• The problem your presentation addresses.
• The evidence that supports your argument.
• The solution you propose or the action you want the audience to take.

These key points become the pillars of your core message.

Contextualizing the Presentation

Provide context by briefly relating back to the content of the whole presentation. For example:

• Reference a statistic you shared in the opening, and how it ties into the conclusion.
• Mention a case study that underlines the importance of your message.

Connecting these elements gives your message cohesion and makes your conclusion resonate with the framework of your presentation.

30 Example Phrases: How to Conclude a Presentation

• 1. “In summary, let’s revisit the key takeaways from today’s presentation.”
• 2. “Thank you for your attention. Let’s move forward together.”
• 3. “That brings us to the end. I’m open to any questions you may have.”
• 4. “I’ll leave you with this final thought to ponder as we conclude.”
• 5. “Let’s recap the main points before we wrap up.”
• 6. “I appreciate your engagement. Now, let’s turn these ideas into action.”
• 7. “We’ve covered a lot today. To conclude, remember these crucial points.”
• 8. “As we reach the end, I’d like to emphasize our call to action.”
• 9. “Before we close, let’s quickly review what we’ve learned.”
• 10. “Thank you for joining me on this journey. I look forward to our next steps.”
• 11. “In closing, I’d like to thank everyone for their participation.”
• 12. “Let’s conclude with a reminder of the impact we can make together.”
• 13. “To wrap up our session, here’s a brief summary of our discussion.”
• 14. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to present to you. Any final thoughts?”
• 15. “And that’s a wrap. I welcome any final questions or comments.”
• 16. “As we conclude, let’s remember the objectives we’ve set today.”
• 17. “Thank you for your time. Let’s apply these insights to achieve success.”
• 18. “In conclusion, your feedback is valuable, and I’m here to listen.”
• 19. “Before we part, let’s take a moment to reflect on our key messages.”
• 20. “I’ll end with an invitation for all of us to take the next step.”
• 21. “As we close, let’s commit to the goals we’ve outlined today.”
• 22. “Thank you for your attention. Let’s keep the conversation going.”
• 23. “In conclusion, let’s make a difference, starting now.”
• 24. “I’ll leave you with these final words to consider as we end our time together.”
• 25. “Before we conclude, remember that change starts with our actions today.”
• 26. “Thank you for the lively discussion. Let’s continue to build on these ideas.”
• 27. “As we wrap up, I encourage you to reach out with any further questions.”
• 28. “In closing, I’d like to express my gratitude for your valuable input.”
• 29. “Let’s conclude on a high note and take these learnings forward.”
• 30. “Thank you for your time today. Let’s end with a commitment to progress.”

Summarizing the Main Points

When you reach the end of your presentation, summarizing the main points helps your audience retain the important information you’ve shared. Crafting a memorable summary enables your listeners to walk away with a clear understanding of your message.

Effective Methods of Summarization

To effectively summarize your presentation, you need to distill complex information into concise, digestible pieces. Start by revisiting the overarching theme of your talk and then narrow down to the core messages. Use plain language and imagery to make the enduring ideas stick. Here are some examples of how to do this:

• Use analogies that relate to common experiences to recap complex concepts.
• Incorporate visuals or gestures that reinforce your main arguments.

The Rule of Three

The Rule of Three is a classic writing and communication principle. It means presenting ideas in a trio, which is a pattern that’s easy for people to understand and remember. For instance, you might say, “Our plan will save time, cut costs, and improve quality.” This structure has a pleasing rhythm and makes the content more memorable. Some examples include:

• “This software is fast, user-friendly, and secure.”
• Pointing out a product’s “durability, affordability, and eco-friendliness.”

Reiterating the Main Points

Finally, you want to circle back to the key takeaways of your presentation. Rephrase your main points without introducing new information. This reinforcement supports your audience’s memory and understanding of the material. You might summarize key takeaways like this:

• Mention the problem you addressed, the solution you propose, and the benefits of this solution.
• Highlighting the outcomes of adopting your strategy: higher efficiency, greater satisfaction, and increased revenue.

Creating a Strong Conclusion

The final moments of your presentation are your chance to leave your audience with a powerful lasting impression. A strong conclusion is more than just summarizing—it’s your opportunity to invoke thought, inspire action, and make your message memorable.

Incorporating a Call to Action

A call to action is your parting request to your audience. You want to inspire them to take a specific action or think differently as a result of what they’ve heard. To do this effectively:

• Be clear about what you’re asking.
• Explain why their action is needed.
• Make it as simple as possible for them to take the next steps.

Example Phrases:

• “Start making a difference today by…”
• “Join us in this effort by…”
• “Take the leap and commit to…”

Leaving a Lasting Impression

End your presentation with something memorable. This can be a powerful quote, an inspirational statement, or a compelling story that underscores your main points. The goal here is to resonate with your audience on an emotional level so that your message sticks with them long after they leave.

• “In the words of [Influential Person], ‘…'”
• “Imagine a world where…”
• “This is more than just [Topic]; it’s about…”

Enhancing Audience Engagement

To hold your audience’s attention and ensure they leave with a lasting impression of your presentation, fostering interaction is key.

Q&A Sessions

It’s important to integrate a Q&A session because it allows for direct communication between you and your audience. This interactive segment helps clarify any uncertainties and encourages active participation. Plan for this by designating a time slot towards the end of your presentation and invite questions that promote discussion.

• “I’d love to hear your thoughts; what questions do you have?”
• “Let’s dive into any questions you might have. Who would like to start?”
• “Feel free to ask any questions, whether they’re clarifications or deeper inquiries about the topic.”

Encouraging Audience Participation

Getting your audience involved can transform a good presentation into a great one. Use open-ended questions that provoke thought and allow audience members to reflect on how your content relates to them. Additionally, inviting volunteers to participate in a demonstration or share their experiences keeps everyone engaged and adds a personal touch to your talk.

• “Could someone give me an example of how you’ve encountered this in your work?”
• “I’d appreciate a volunteer to help demonstrate this concept. Who’s interested?”
• “How do you see this information impacting your daily tasks? Let’s discuss!”

Delivering a Persuasive Ending

At the end of your presentation, you have the power to leave a lasting impact on your audience. A persuasive ending can drive home your key message and encourage action.

Sales and Persuasion Tactics

When you’re concluding a presentation with the goal of selling a product or idea, employ carefully chosen sales and persuasion tactics. One method is to summarize the key benefits of your offering, reminding your audience why it’s important to act. For example, if you’ve just presented a new software tool, recap how it will save time and increase productivity. Another tactic is the ‘call to action’, which should be clear and direct, such as “Start your free trial today to experience the benefits first-hand!” Furthermore, using a touch of urgency, like “Offer expires soon!”, can nudge your audience to act promptly.

Final Impressions and Professionalism

Your closing statement is a chance to solidify your professional image and leave a positive impression. It’s important to display confidence and poise. Consider thanking your audience for their time and offering to answer any questions. Make sure to end on a high note by summarizing your message in a concise and memorable way. If your topic was on renewable energy, you might conclude by saying, “Let’s take a leap towards a greener future by adopting these solutions today.” This reinforces your main points and encourages your listeners to think or act differently when they leave.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some creative strategies for ending a presentation memorably.

To end your presentation in a memorable way, consider incorporating a call to action that engages your audience to take the next step. Another strategy is to finish with a thought-provoking question or a surprising fact that resonates with your listeners.

Can you suggest some powerful quotes suitable for concluding a presentation?

Yes, using a quote can be very effective. For example, Maya Angelou’s “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel,” can reinforce the emotional impact of your presentation.

What is an effective way to write a conclusion that summarizes a presentation?

An effective conclusion should recap the main points succinctly, highlighting what you want your audience to remember. A good way to conclude is by restating your thesis and then briefly summarizing the supporting points you made.

As a student, how can I leave a strong impression with my presentation’s closing remarks?

To leave a strong impression, consider sharing a personal anecdote related to your topic that demonstrates passion and conviction. This helps humanize your content and makes the message more relatable to your audience.

How can I appropriately thank my audience at the close of my presentation?

A simple and sincere expression of gratitude is always appropriate. You might say, “Thank you for your attention and engagement today,” to convey appreciation while also acknowledging their participation.

What are some examples of a compelling closing sentence in a presentation?

A compelling closing sentence could be something like, “Together, let’s take the leap towards a greener future,” if you’re presenting on sustainability. This sentence is impactful, calls for united action, and leaves your audience with a clear message.

• How to Build Rapport: Effective Techniques
• Active Listening (Techniques, Examples, Tips)
• Effective Nonverbal Communication in the Workplace (Examples)
• What is Problem Solving? (Steps, Techniques, Examples)
• 2 Examples of an Effective and Warm Letter of Welcome
• 8 Examples of Effective Interview Confirmation Emails

Quotation Template for PowerPoint and Google Slides

Budget , Invoice , Price , Quotation

File types:

Google Slides , PPTX

Free quotation template for PowerPoint and Google Slides. A pre-designed slide for your quote (or quotation) that details a budget and breaks down your work. Easy to customize document with editable graphics and text placeholders.

Quotation Template

Today, it is very common to share presentation documents with prospects or clients instead of word processor files. Indeed, the presentation layout perfectly fits the computer screen, making them much easier to read and to go through. Also, the structure is simpler. Indeed, 1 page usually stands for a specific topic.

And among these topics, business presentations sometimes need to include a slide with a detailed budget .

For example, when a (current or future) client requests a quotation , you need to indicate all the price details of the services you will offer. The easiest way is to insert a table. Or you can use a more appealing design, like this one.

More specifically, this quotation template already comes with the general text placeholders you need: company name, address, quotation number, name of the customer, etc. And instead of a table, text boxes with rounded corners will embed your budget details (e.g., description, quantity, unit price, total cost, tax, and total budget). You can also add an expiration date and terms and conditions.

Shapes are 100% editable : colors and sizes can be easily changed.

Includes 2 slide option designs: Standard (4:3) and Widescreen (16:9).

Widescreen (16:9) size preview:

This ‘Quotation for PowerPoint and Google Slides’ features:

• 2 unique slides
• Light and Dark layout
• Ready to use template with text placeholders
• Completely editable shapes
• Standard (4:3) and Widescreen (16:9) aspect ratios
• PPTX file and for Google Slides

Free fonts used:

• Helvetica (System Font)
• Calibri (System Font)

Terms of use:

Requires attribution, personal and educational use, commercial use, (re)sell, (re)distribute, read the full  terms of use.

Google Slides: Widescreen (16:9)

You may also like these presentation templates

Search Templates by categories

Search templates by colors.

Love our templates? Show your support with a coffee!

Thank you for fueling our creativity.

Charts & Diagrams

Text & Tables

Graphics & Metaphors

Timelines & Planning

Best-Ofs & Tips

Terms and Conditions

Privacy Statement

Cookie Policy

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Policy

© Copyright 2024  Ofeex  | PRESENTATIONGO® is a registered trademark | All rights reserved.

To provide the best experiences, we and our partners use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us and our partners to process personal data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site and show (non-) personalized ads. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.

Click below to consent to the above or make granular choices. Your choices will be applied to this site only. You can change your settings at any time, including withdrawing your consent, by using the toggles on the Cookie Policy, or by clicking on the manage consent button at the bottom of the screen.

Thank you for downloading this template!

Remember, you can use it for free but you have to attribute PresentationGO . For example, you can use the following text:

If you really like our free templates and want to thank/help us, you can:

Thank you for your support

• SUGGESTED TOPICS
• The Magazine
• Newsletters
• Managing Yourself
• Managing Teams
• Work-life Balance
• The Big Idea
• Data & Visuals
• Reading Lists
• Case Selections
• HBR Learning
• Topic Feeds
• Account Settings
• Email Preferences

How to Present to an Audience That Knows More Than You

• Deborah Grayson Riegel

Lean into being a facilitator — not an expert.

What happens when you have to give a presentation to an audience that might have some professionals who have more expertise on the topic than you do? While it can be intimidating, it can also be an opportunity to leverage their deep and diverse expertise in service of the group’s learning. And it’s an opportunity to exercise some intellectual humility, which includes having respect for other viewpoints, not being intellectually overconfident, separating your ego from your intellect, and being willing to revise your own viewpoint — especially in the face of new information. This article offers several tips for how you might approach a roomful of experts, including how to invite them into the discussion without allowing them to completely take over, as well as how to pivot on the proposed topic when necessary.

I was five years into my executive coaching practice when I was invited to lead a workshop on “Coaching Skills for Human Resource Leaders” at a global conference. As the room filled up with participants, I identified a few colleagues who had already been coaching professionally for more than a decade. I felt self-doubt start to kick in: Why were they even here? What did they come to learn? Why do they want to hear from me?

• Deborah Grayson Riegel is a professional speaker and facilitator, as well as a communication and presentation skills coach. She teaches leadership communication at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and has taught for Wharton Business School, Columbia Business School’s Women in Leadership Program, and Peking University’s International MBA Program. She is the author of Overcoming Overthinking: 36 Ways to Tame Anxiety for Work, School, and Life and the best-selling Go To Help: 31 Strategies to Offer, Ask for, and Accept Help .

Partner Center