how to create a presentation on keynote

Keynote User Guide for Mac

• Intro to Keynote
• Intro to images, charts, and other objects
• Create your first presentation
• Choose how to navigate your presentation
• Open or close a presentation
• Save and name a presentation
• Find a presentation
• Print a presentation
• Undo or redo changes
• Show or hide sidebars
• Quick navigation
• Change the working view
• Expand and zoom your workspace
• Customize the Keynote toolbar
• Change Keynote settings on Mac
• Touch Bar for Keynote
• Create a presentation using VoiceOver
• Add or delete slides
• Reorder slides
• Group or ungroup slides
• Skip or unskip a slide
• Change the slide size
• Change a slide background
• Add a border around a slide
• Show or hide text placeholders
• Show or hide slide numbers
• Apply a slide layout
• Add and edit slide layouts
• Change a theme
• Add an image
• Add an image gallery
• Edit an image
• Add and edit a shape
• Combine or break apart shapes
• Draw a shape
• Save a shape to the shapes library
• Add and align text inside a shape
• Add lines and arrows
• Animate, share, or save drawings
• Add video and audio
• Record audio
• Edit video and audio
• Add live video
• Set movie and image formats
• Position and align objects
• Use alignment guides
• Place objects inside a text box or shape
• Layer, group, and lock objects
• Change object transparency
• Fill objects with color or an image
• Add a border to an object
• Add a caption or title
• Add a reflection or shadow
• Use object styles
• Resize, rotate, and flip objects
• Move and edit objects using the object list
• Add linked objects to make your presentation interactive
• Select text and place the insertion point
• Copy and paste text
• Use dictation to enter text
• Use accents and special characters
• Format a presentation for another language
• Use phonetic guides
• Use bidirectional text
• Use vertical text
• Change the font or font size
• Add bold, italic, underline, or strikethrough to text
• Change the color of text
• Change text capitalization
• Add a shadow or outline to text
• Intro to paragraph styles
• Apply a paragraph style
• Create, rename, or delete paragraph styles
• Update or revert a paragraph style
• Use a keyboard shortcut to apply a style
• Adjust character spacing
• Add drop caps
• Raise and lower characters and text
• Format fractions automatically
• Create and use character styles
• Format dashes and quotation marks
• Format Chinese, Japanese, or Korean text
• Set tab stops
• Format text into columns
• Adjust line spacing
• Format lists
• Add a highlight effect to text
• Add mathematical equations
• Add rules (lines) to separate text
• Add or delete a table
• Select tables, cells, rows, and columns
• Add or remove rows and columns
• Move rows and columns
• Resize rows and columns
• Merge or unmerge cells
• Change the look of table text
• Show, hide, or edit a table title
• Change table gridlines and colors
• Use table styles
• Resize, move, or lock a table
• Add and edit cell content
• Format dates, currency, and more
• Create a custom cell format
• Highlight cells conditionally
• Format tables for bidirectional text
• Alphabetize or sort table data
• Calculate values using data in table cells
• Use the Formulas and Functions Help
• Add or delete a chart
• Change a chart from one type to another
• Modify chart data
• Move, resize, and rotate a chart
• Change the look of data series
• Add a legend, gridlines, and other markings
• Change the look of chart text and labels
• Add a chart border and background
• Use chart styles
• Animate objects onto and off a slide
• Animate objects on a slide
• Change build order and timing
• Add transitions
• Present on your Mac
• Present on a separate display
• Present on a Mac over the internet
• Use a remote
• Make a presentation advance automatically
• Play a slideshow with multiple presenters
• Add and view presenter notes
• Rehearse on your Mac
• Record presentations
• Check spelling
• Look up words
• Find and replace text
• Replace text automatically
• Set author name and comment color
• Highlight text
• Add and print comments
• Send a presentation
• Intro to collaboration
• Invite others to collaborate
• Collaborate on a shared presentation
• Follow activity in a shared presentation
• Change a shared presentation’s settings
• Stop sharing a presentation
• Shared folders and collaboration
• Use Box to collaborate
• Create an animated GIF
• Post your presentation in a blog
• Use iCloud Drive with Keynote
• Export to PowerPoint or another file format
• Reduce the presentation file size
• Save a large presentation as a package file
• Restore an earlier version of a presentation
• Move a presentation
• Delete a presentation
• Password-protect a presentation
• Lock a presentation
• Create and manage custom themes
• Transfer files with AirDrop
• Transfer presentations with Handoff
• Transfer presentations with the Finder
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Keyboard shortcut symbols

Create your first presentation in Keynote on Mac

To create a Keynote presentation, you first choose a theme , which is a collection of predesigned slide layouts you use as a starting point. Each slide layout includes placeholder images and text styled as titles and body content. To add your own content, you replace the placeholder content with your own.

Create a presentation from a theme

To open Keynote, click the Keynote icon in the Dock, Launchpad, or the Applications folder.

If the theme chooser (shown below) doesn’t appear, click New Document in the bottom-left corner of the dialog. You can also choose File > New (from the File menu at the top of your screen).

Note: If you’d like the ability to format table and chart data using the conventions of another language, choose the language in the bottom-left corner before choosing a theme. See Format a presentation for another language .

In the theme chooser, browse themes by category or click All Themes, then double-click a theme to open it.

Some themes aren’t downloaded to your computer until you choose them or open a presentation that uses one. If your connection is slow or you’re offline when this happens, placeholder images and slide backgrounds in the presentation may appear at a lower resolution until you’re online again or the theme finishes downloading.

Each slide layout offers a different arrangement of text and images that you use as a starting point for your content.

To add your own content to the presentation, do any of the following:

Add text: Double-click placeholder text and type your own.

Choose File > Save, enter a name, choose a location, then click Save.

If iCloud Drive is set up on your Mac, Keynote saves the presentation to iCloud Drive by default. You can change the name of the presentation or change where it’s saved at any time.

To end the presentation, press the Esc (Escape) key. For more ways to show a presentation, see Play a presentation on your Mac .

To close the presentation when you’re finished working, click the red close button in the top-left corner of the window.

Keynote automatically saves your changes, so you won’t lose any of your work.

Select a default theme for new presentations

You can set Keynote to always open a new presentation in a particular theme instead of from the theme chooser.

Choose Keynote > Settings (from the Keynote menu at the top of your screen).

Click General at the top of the window, then select “Use theme” in the For New Presentations controls.

The name that appears after “Use theme” is the currently selected theme.

Click the Change Theme button, select a theme, then click Choose.

To close the window, click the red close button in the upper-left corner.

After you change this setting, you can still open a new presentation with a different theme. Hold down the Option key, then choose File > New from Theme Chooser (from the File menu at the top of your screen).

• Piktochart Visual
• Video Editor
• Infographic Maker
• Poster Maker
• Brochure Maker
• Flyer Maker
• Flowchart Maker
• Graph Maker
• Invitation Maker
• Pitch Deck Creator
• Presentation Maker
• Report Maker
• Resume Maker
• Social Media Graphic Maker
• Screen Recorder
• Social Media Video Maker
• Video Cropper
• Video to Text Converter
• Video Views Calculator
• For Communications
• For Education
• For eLearning
• For Financial Services
• For Healthcare
• For Human Resources
• For Marketing
• For Nonprofits
• Brochure Templates
• Flyer Templates
• Infographic Templates
• Newsletter Templates
• Presentation Templates
• Resume Templates
• Business Infographics
• Business Proposals
• Education Templates
• Health Posters
• HR Templates
• Sales Presentations
• Explore all free templates on Piktochart
• Video Tutorials
• Piktosquad Community
• The Business Storyteller Podcast
• User Stories
• Need help? Check out our Help Center
• Earn money as a Piktochart Affiliate Partner
• Compare prices and features across Free, Pro, and Enterprise plans.
• For professionals and small teams looking for better brand management.
• For organizations seeking enterprise-grade onboarding, support, and SSO.
• Discounted plan for students, teachers, and education staff.
• Great causes deserve great pricing. Registered nonprofits pay less.

10 Expert Tips to Create and Deliver a Killer Keynote Presentation

So you’ve got a keynote presentation coming up, and you’re hitting the books to make sure you’re armed with the best plan possible. Besides taking notes from all the greats on TED, you’re reading up about a message structure that works, and looking for the perfect template.

While it seems like you’ve got your bases covered, like all things in life, there’s always a way to streamline the planning process.

According to Aaron Weyenberg , the UX Lead for TED and a self-professed “master of slide decks,” and the wizards behind Apple’s presentation slides , there are a number of tricks of the trade that you can rely on to create a rocking keynote presentation .

Below are some of our favorites. And to easily create a professional-looking presentation , sign up for Piktochart . It’s free and it allows you to make beautiful visuals without being a graphic designer.

1. Do your slides last

While most keynote speakers will typically build their presentation around the structure of a template, Weyenberg says that “building your slides should be the tail end of developing your presentation.” Before working on your slides, you should put together your main message, structure, supporting points – then practice and time your presentation. The reason for this, he says, is that the presentation needs to be strong enough to stand on its own. Approaching a keynote like this requires a shift in thinking.

While a beautiful set of slides is imperative to your presentation, it should not be central to it.

Weyenberg said it best: “The slides are just something you layer over [the presentation] to enhance the listener experience.”

Observe these 2017 Google I/O keynotes, especially CEO Sundar Pichai’s – the role of the slides are to support what the speaker is saying – not the other way around.

2. Get creative with photos

Often times, presenters will be far too literal or cheesy with their image choice. Weyenberg suggests to use images that are simple, yet punchy – and pairs nicely with your spoken words. He says to look for photos that are:

• Related to your keynote’s concept
• Are not complex in terms of composition

3. Simplify charts and graphs

While most presenters will simply drop an image of their charts and graphs into their deck, Weyenberg points out that it might be a bit “unsightly.” If you need to use data to back a point that you’re making, you should make the extra effort to make it more attractive – and this can be done by recreating it in your presentation app.

There are a couple benefits to doing this:

• It will make your presentation seem consistent and well-thought out
• You’ll have control over colors, typography, and more.

4. One theme per slide

According to the designers of Apple presentation slides, less is certainly more. Trying to cram too many ideas on one slide can only work to your detriment. Beyond ideas, the same goes for statistics.

Let’s play a little game: For the following idea, how many slides would you use? “The developer program is incredibly vibrant. We have over six million registered developers. Demand for this show has never been greater. We sold out in just over a minute [71 seconds].”

While the average person might think that 6 million and 71 seconds would belong on the same slide and be short and sweet enough, let’s compare it with what Apple’s CEO Tim Cook did.

He only leveraged two slides: The first said “6 million,” and the second: “71 seconds. Sold out.”

5. Create a visual experience with data

Taking a leaf again from Apple’s presentation book, once you’ve gotten the hang of having just one stat per slide – you should also make it as visual as possible.

One data point per slide, combined with it being visually interesting – is sure to be memorable.

6. Practice Really Makes Perfect

Imagine the late Steve Jobs, a legendary keynote presenter, still rehearsed for months before a presentation. According to Brent Schlender , one of the co-authors behind the Steve Jobs biography “Becoming Steve Jobs,” Jobs would rehearse and prepare “exhaustively” for all of his public appearances.

Despite being a natural on the stage, Jobs never would wing it, he came to the show well prepared.

“I once spent an entire day watching him run through multiple rehearsals of a single presentation, tweaking everything from the color and angle of certain spotlights, to editing and rearranging the order of the keynote presentation slides to improve his pacing,” remembers Schlender.

While you may not be a perfectionist like Jobs, you are likely also not nearly as good of a presenter as he is – so practice really makes perfect in this case.

7. Tell A Consistent Story

Circling back to Weyenberg’s tips – he suggests that in a good slide deck, every slide should feel “like part of the same story.” Think of your deck like a story – every slide should feel cohesive to the big picture message you’re trying to communicate – as opposed to random ideas juxtaposed together.

You can do this by:

• Using the same or similar typography, colors, and imagery across all slides
• Using templates can help with maintaining the same look and feel

8. Less is more

We explored the less is more concept earlier in the article by suggesting you keep to one idea per slide. The same can be applied to text.

When it comes to creating slides for your next keynote, the cardinal sin is a slide with ample text that is verbatim of your spoken presentation.

What this does is encourage people to keep their eyes on your slides instead of listening to you.

Weyenberg also points out that a text-heavy slide forces the brain to multitask between focusing on what it’s reading and hearing – which is quite difficult and will compromise your presentation.

9. Consider topic transitions

While you want to make your slides look like a cohesive unit, you want to also keep in mind that making every slide look the same may be boring. Weyenberg suggests to:

• Create one style for the slides that are the “meat” of the message
• Then create another style for the slides that are transitioning between topics

For example, if your overall slides have a dark background with light text, you can use transitional slides that have a light background with dark text. This way, they’ll still feel like they’re from the same presentation family without being completely uniform.

10. Tell a captivating story

It is fitting that our final tip comes from likely the greatest keynote presenter of all time. The late and great Steve Jobs had the ability to captivate and inspire his audience with his talks, and that’s because he was a very good storyteller. And that’s the golden leaf that you can take from Jobs’ book today.

Always aim to tell a captivating story.

One example is perhaps when he introduced the iPod: “In 2001, we introduced the first iPod. It didn’t just change the way we all listen to music. It changed the entire music industry.” Listen to Steve Jobs weave a story about the digital music revolution when unveiling the iPod.

Bonus Round: Tips From Piktochart Designers  

• Always remember that your audience is sitting far away . So ensure that your title font size is large enough to be seen from a distance, and that your body text is no smaller than 20px.
• Use only two colors for your entire presentation – a primary and secondary color. If you must use a large color palette, your maximum choice should be up to five colors.
• Make sure that there is enough white space throughout your presentation . This will give your content room to breathe. Less is definitely more in this case.
• Emphasize only one object per slide – whether it’s an image, statistic, quote. This will make sure your audience stays focused.

Time to Make Your Own!

Create presentations, reports, and infographics in minutes.

Watch this demo to learn about the benefits of Piktochart.

Other Posts

Data Visualization

How to Improve Your Data Visualization Design in 6 Steps

Types of Fonts, Examples, and When to Use Them

What Is Space in Design and How It Helps Create Better Visuals

Do you want to be part of these success stories, join more than 11 million who already use piktochart to craft visual stories that stick..

Change Language

Create a new presentation, always create new presentations from a specific theme.

Getting Started With Keynote: How To Create Your First Keynote Presentation

If you’re new to the Apple ecosystem, then you’re probably a stranger to Keynote, Apple’s very own presentation software. Don’t worry if you don’t know anything about it at this point, that’s what this article is for. So, stay tuned as I introduce you to this popular alternative to PowerPoint. You’ll learn how to navigate the Keynote workspace and later on, how to create your first Keynote presentation.

Why Use Keynote?

I’ve got a few good reasons why Keynote is an awesome presentation software for Mac users.

• It’s free and readily available

Keynote comes pre-installed on new Macs. You don’t need to download it, but if you need to, you can always download it for free on the App Store . For the PowerPoint (and Windows) faithful who’ve made the switch to Apple computers, you’re probably asking this very question right now:

“Why use Keynote when PowerPoint is available on Macs?”

Truthfully, the answer is you don’t have to. However, PowerPoint (and Microsoft Office) isn’t free. If you want to install PowerPoint on your Mac, then you’d need to buy a Microsoft Office license or a subscription to Office 365.

If you absolutely don’t need to use PowerPoint, then why not give Keynote a try? It’s pretty simple to use, it’s intuitive and it works great on Macs. Plus, it’s free, so you don’t need to spend extra cash just to use the app!

• It’s designed for Macs

Keynote was designed by Apple for Apple. This means you’re not going to find Keynote on Windows or Linux or any other operating system. Apple is known for the quality of their products and Keynote is no different. It’s sleek, sexy, easy on the eyes, and it’s fairly easy to use.

For those saying they’d stick to PowerPoint on their Mac, that’s absolutely fine. But if you’re expecting your Mac PowerPoint experience to be on par with your Windows experience, then you’re going to be disappointed. The Mac version lacks many of the newer features you’ll find on Windows. And frankly, it’s just not as good as the Windows version.

If you need to use PowerPoint on Mac, I recommend you use Boot Camp or install third-party software like Parallels Desktop . This is so you can run Windows apps natively on your Mac.

• It’s user-friendly

Apple products are designed to work out of the box. It’s one of the reasons why many people swear by Apple products. You don’t need to be a designer to use Keynote. The interface is clean, intuitive and relatively simple. Sure, there’s a bit of a learning curve, but it’s nowhere near the time you need to spend to master PowerPoint.

If you’re coming from PowerPoint, you may even think Keynote is too simple. But that’s why Keynote users love it – they don’t need to overthink their slide designs. You may not have granular control over every single aspect of your presentation (and this may be a no-no for diehard PowerPoint users), but plenty of Keynote users don’t mind. When all is said and done, they know they’ll have a great-looking presentation.

• Works on all Apple devices

If you’ve invested heavily into the Apple ecosystem, then Keynote should be your presentation software of choice. Why? Because you’re not limited to using just one device to edit your slides. You can work on your slides on your MacBook, iMac, iPad, and even your iPhone! You can even access your Keynote file on non-Apple devices – simply fire up a web browser and go to iCloud Keynote!

• It’s PowerPoint-friendly

Ah yes, PowerPoint users need this reassurance. You’ve probably been burned in the past when PowerPoint and Keynote didn’t play too well with each other. And you had all sorts of problems trying to sort out compatibility issues.

Well, it’s 2019 now. According to Apple themselves, they’ve redesigned Keynote to work better with Microsoft Office products. They regularly update the software too to ensure better compatibility.

Here’s an article detailing the compatibility of Keynote with PowerPoint.  You’ll notice there are more ticks in the Supported and Partially Supported columns than the Not Supported one. So, hurray for PowerPoint and Keynote fans!

Getting Started With Keynote

Now that you know just how awesome Keynote is, I’m going to give you a rundown of the software’s interface. To get started with Keynote, launch the app from the Launchpad or look for it in the Dock. You’ll then see the theme chooser (see screenshot below). Choose whether you want to use a standard (4:3) or wide (16:9) theme.

Note : If you don’t see the theme chooser above, press the Option key on your keyboard and click File > New to open a new Keynote file. The theme chooser will then appear on your screen.

Navigating the Keynote workspace isn’t as hard as it looks. The interface is relatively cleaner and simpler than PowerPoint. This is what the Toolbar looks like:

As you can see above, I’ve divided the Toolbar into 5 different parts. Here’s a run-down of what each part does:

1 – This is the navigation panel. As you can see, there are 3 buttons in this section (View, Zoom, and Add Slide):

• Under View , you can decide whether you want to use the Navigator view (default), Slide Only view, Light Table view, or Outline view. This is also where you go to edit the Master Slides, show object list, and more.

• You can also Zoom in or out of whatever view you’ve selected. If you don’t want to mess around with the percentages, you can always click on Fit Slide .

• Lastly, you can click on the Add Slide button to, well, obviously, add a slide. However, this is where it gets interesting. When you add a slide, Keynote doesn’t automatically add a blank slide (like PowerPoint). Instead, you get to choose the slide layout you want to use.

2 – This section consists of the Play and Keynote Live buttons.

• Clicking on the Play button will play your slideshow.
• Hit Keynote Live if you want to present a live slideshow to anyone in the world. Your audience can watch your presentation on any Apple or iOS device, or any browser connected to the Internet.

Note you’ll need to be connected to iCloud for this feature to work. Once you’re logged in, you can copy and paste the link to your slideshow and send it to your audience. You can also lock your presentation with a password if you’re concerned about security.

3 – In this section, you can choose from 6 different elements you can add to your slides. You can add a table , chart , text , shape , media (images, videos, audio) and comment . The first 5 elements are largely self-explanatory.

For the 6 th element (comments), these are helpful if you’re collaborating with somebody else. You can have a chat in real-time about your ideas and any changes you want to make to the design. In case you’re wondering, the comments won’t appear in your actual presentation.

4 – If you’re collaborating with other people, then you simply need to click the Collaborate button. You can specify who can access your Keynote and their permission level. Here’s what it looks like:

5 – The fifth section is where you go to edit the properties of all the elements and slides in your presentation. You can see 3 options or buttons here: Format , Animate and Document .

• Format. To format your slide itself, click on a blank space on your slide. You’ll be able to change your slide layout here as well as edit the Master Slide. You can also change the appearance of your slide (change background appearance, etc.).
• Format an element . The format menu options will change according to the element you click on. Say, for instance, you click on a text, then the formatting options for text will appear on your screen. If you click on a photo, then the image formatting options will appear, and so on.
• Animate (Slide Transition) . If you want to add animations when you transition from one slide to another, this is the correct button to click. Slide transitions are categorized into four: (1) Appear & Move, (2) Flip, Spin & Scale, (3) Object Effects, and (4) Text Effects. You can adjust the duration, color, delay, and more, of your selected effect.
• Animate (Element Effect) . You can choose to add a Build In effect, an Action effect, and a Build Out effect for your elements.
• Document . Click on this button to change your document settings. In here, you can adjust your Slideshow Settings, Presentation Type, Slide Size and more. Additionally, you can also record your slideshow in the Audio tab and add a Soundtrack . This is great if you plan on playing your slideshow in conference kiosks (self-playing) or converting your Keynote to video.

Additional Keynote options

You’re probably wondering if that’s all that Keynote can do. Well, of course not! In addition to the Toolbar, you can also access more settings and features in the Menu bar. You’ll see this at the very top of your screen:

If you think the default Toolbar lacks some important feature, and you don’t want to go looking for it in the Menu bar every time you want to use it, then you may want to customize the toolbar.

Here’s how you do it:

Go to View > Customize Toolbar . You can drag and drop your most frequently used buttons to the toolbar. For example, if you find yourself frequently using the Group and Ungroup options, then you may want to drag it into your toolbar so you can group/ungroup elements with just a single click. If you’re very particular about the size of your fonts, then add the Bigger and Smaller buttons to your toolbar.

The good thing about customizing your toolbar is that you can always go back to the default settings. If you find yourself wanting to go back to the original toolbar menu, then go back into the Customize Toolbar menu again.

As you can see on the screenshot above, there’s an option to drag the default set into the toolbar . Don’t forget to hit the blue Done button when you’re finished.

Using iCloud Keynote

If you want the ability to edit your Keynote presentation on other devices, then log in to iCloud on your Mac. Go into System Preferences and click on iCloud . You’ll see this on your screen:

Type in your Apple ID and password if you already have one. If not, click on Create Apple ID .

Now that your Mac is logged in to iCloud, all your photos, contacts and documents (including Keynote files) will be stored in iCloud. This means if you have an iPhone or iPad, and you’re logged in using the same Apple ID, then all the files uploaded to iCloud will automatically appear in your Apple devices. So, you can create your Keynote on your MacBook or iMac, and then continue editing on your iPad or iPhone. Awesome, right?

But what about if you need to need to make last-minute changes to your presentation and you don’t have an Apple device nearby? Will all your hard work go to waste? Thankfully, not.

Just open a web browser on any computer and go to https://icloud.com . You’ll see this prompt on your screen:

Once you’re logged in to iCloud, you’ll see this menu on your screen:

Click on Keynote and you’ll be able to see all the Keynote files you’ve made on other iCloud-linked devices. If you want to create a new file, click on Create Presentation .

Just like in the desktop version of Keynote, you’ll see the Theme Chooser menu on your screen:

Click on the theme you want to use. A new tab will automatically open on your browser. This what the iCloud Keynote workspace looks like:

As you can see, it looks almost exactly the same as the desktop version. You’ve got the View and Zoom icons, the Play slideshow button, the 6 element types you can add to your slides (table, chart, text, shape, media, comment), the collaborate icon, and the format and animate button.

At a quick glance, however, you can see that the Keynote Live   and Document icons are missing on the toolbar. Unfortunately, like most web-based presentation software, iCloud Keynote also has its drawbacks. A number of features from the desktop app are missing.

For instance, once you’ve selected your theme on iCloud Keynote, you’re going to have to stick with it. You simply don’t have the option to change it to another theme.

For this example, I used the Artisan theme in the screenshot above. I wanted to change it to the Gradient theme, but iCloud Keynote doesn’t have the Document button (available on the desktop version) that allows you to change themes and slide sizes.

There’s also no option to edit the Master Slides. While there’s a Media button, you’re limited to adding images only. This means inserting videos and audio files are not going to be possible on iCloud Keynote. Formatting options are also limited, so keep this in mind when creating and editing slides on the web.

The good news, however, is that iCloud integration is fantastic. You can create your slides in iCloud Keynote. Once you get your hands on an Apple computer, you can just edit your file on the desktop app. iCloud Keynote is great for editing presentations while you’re on the go. For maximum control, however, Keynote desktop is the way to go.

Tips to Make Your First Keynote Presentation a Standout

Even the most novice of Keynote users can make something stunning in just a few minutes. How? Well, if you haven’t noticed, Keynote’s built-in themes already look great. So, really, if you’re in a hurry, you can just choose one of the themes from the Theme Chooser. Then, select the layouts you want to use and replace the placeholders with your own content!

But, of course, if you truly want to make your keynote presentation a standout, then it’s best to actually put some time and effort into making one that your audience is going to love. So, here are some tips you can use to impress your audience and make sure your message is heard loud and clear.

• Keep text to a minimum

No matter what presentation software you use, it’s best to keep text to a minimum. You don’t want to copy and paste several sentences or a few paragraphs in your slides. You don’t want your audience to just read your slides. If you do this, then there’s really no incentive for them to listen anymore, is there?

As the popular saying goes, “less is more.” Strive to have a simple presentation instead of going for all the bells and whistles you can think of. Your audience isn’t there to read, they’re there to listen to your presentation.

Think of your slides as mere visual aids. They’re there to make your presentation more interesting. They’re supposed to help your audience understand your main points.

• Use the right font

Different fonts convey different emotions. There are fonts that look professional. Then there are those that look fun. There are even retro fonts and scary-looking fonts (perfect for Halloween-themed presentations).

Adding new fonts to your Keynote presentation is relatively quick and easy. You’ve got two ways:

• You can download a font package and add it to Font Book . You can look for this app in your Applications folder or you can search for it using Spotlight (press both Command + Spacebar ). Click the (+) icon in Font Book and locate where you saved the downloaded font. Your new font will now appear in the Font dropdown in Keynote.

• The second option is to download an app called SkyFonts . You can download and install fonts from Google Fonts, Fonts.com, Monotype and MyFonts. Personally, I prefer this option because you don’t need to download the fonts to your computer. These are stored in the cloud and you can easily remove the fonts you’re no longer using.

Just a word of caution though. If you intend to download fancy fonts and use different devices to edit your Keynote slides, then you may be in for a shock. The fonts in iCloud Keynote are predefined, so whatever font you install on your Mac isn’t going to appear in iCloud Keynote.

• Use high-quality graphics

As the old cliché goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. You can put a picture on a slide, and it will tell the audience its own story. All without you needing to say a single word about it. That’s how powerful images are.

So, one of the first things you need to do once you figure out what you’re going to say in your presentation is to look for an image that will perfectly capture your main points. It doesn’t have to be an original photo or one that you took yourself.

You can use photos as background for your slides or you can use it as the main subject. The good news is there are millions of free images on the web. You just need to know where to look. Places like Unsplash , StockSnap and ISO Republic all offer high-quality images for free.

• Utilize white space

A busy-looking slide will only distract your audience. They won’t know exactly where to look. But if you have plenty of white space on your slides, then you can direct their attention to whatever you’re showing on screen.

Contrary to popular belief, white space doesn’t actually need to be white. It can be any color that will fit in well with your theme. For instance, take a look at the screenshot below. There’s a lot of blank space on the slide – this is what’s known as white space.

As you can see, it’s easy to follow what the slide above is trying to say. Doodling helps stimulates the brain, helps to see the big picture, improves learning, and helps to organize knowledge. The graphics used are simple enough to understand.

• Use third-party themes and templates

There’s obviously nothing wrong with using the built-in themes and templates on Keynote. But, if you want to stand out from the crowd of similar-looking presentations, then it’s best to use something else that not a lot of people are using. This is where third-party themes and templates come in.

You can download themes and templates that are made specifically for Keynote . Or you can use those that are made for PowerPoint! Surprised? Yes, PowerPoint templates do work on Keynote!

How To Use PowerPoint Templates For Your Keynote Presentations

To use PPT templates for Keynote, all you have to do is fire up Keynote, click on Open, then look for the PowerPoint file. If there are compatibility issues, Keynote will give you a list of things that may look different.

For this example, I downloaded one of our free templates, the Competitor PowerPoint Template pack. Note that you need to create a free account so you can download any of our templates.

Most PPT templates when opened in Keynote will probably have a few issues. I saw a couple of slides which needed a bit of editing. Here’s an example:

For the most part, however, the majority of slides looked great on Keynote! Here’s a screenshot of slides 5-10:

As you can see, the slides look really good. All you need to do is just edit and replace the placeholder content with your own, and you’re good to go! You can then save the file as a Keynote presentation or export it to another format.

Final Words

Apple users, rejoice! You’ve got a free and very capable presentation software on your hands. You don’t need to spend extra cash just to use PowerPoint. As you’ve learned in this article, Keynote is relatively easy to use. You’ll be able to create your first Keynote presentation in no time at all!

You might also find this interesting: The 16 Best Presentation Software For Macs

Create professional presentations online

Other people also read

Powerpoint vs keynote: which is the best presentation software, las 12 mejores agencias de diseño de presentaciones (incluye....

The 12 Best Presentation Design Agencies (Including Prices)