PowerPoint design for training means creating clear, engaging, and accessible slides that help employees absorb key learning points. When creating your training materials, a well-designed PowerPoint can make a big difference to how effectively you deliver your session.
💡 At-a-Glance Summary
- Use clear, high-contrast color schemes.
- Keep slides uncluttered with ample white space.
- Apply accessibility tools such as ‘Check Accessibility’.
- Use teaching notes to support delivery.
- Adopt a storytelling approach to keep learners engaged.
With that in mind, here are 9 expert PowerPoint design tips for trainers and facilitators to help you create slides that look professional, support your teaching, and keep your learners engaged.
9 PowerPoint Design Tips for Trainers and Facilitators
Effective PowerPoint design for training is about combining visual clarity with accessibility, so your slides reinforce your teaching rather than distract from it.
What Color Schemes Work Best for Training Slides?
Use high-contrast colors that are easy on the eyes and reflect your training brand or topic.
Getting the right color combination for your slides is important for a variety of reasons. First of all, you want your presentation to be attractive but easy on the eyes.
Some color combinations (such as red writing on a blue background or green writing on a red background) strain the eyes of the viewer. Other combinations may be too dull and boring or too bright and distracting.
Also, you may want to use your company’s colors on the slides or use colors to project a certain feeling or mindset (different colors can generate different emotional responses in the audience).
Now, even if you are completely new to trying to design training materials, you do not need to be a graphic designer to understand how colors work because there are FREE tools you can use!
To understand what colors work well together, you can use one of these tools:
- Canva color palette generator
- Coolors is also a great option for color combos
- My favorite, though, is ColorSpace. Just enter one color and click ‘generate’, and it will create a custom color combination for you. I chose a red color (#C25E83), and this is the color combo it gave me:
| Tool | Best For | Key Feature | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canva Color Palette Generator | Quick brand-based color palettes for presentations | Extracts palettes directly from images or brand logos | Canva |
| Coolors | Designers wanting manual color control | Keyboard shortcuts to lock and adjust hues quickly | Coolors |
| ColorSpace | Trainers seeking simple, automatic palette ideas | Generates matching color schemes from a single hex code | ColorSpace |
Tip: Choose the tool that best matches your design confidence level — ColorSpace for quick results, Coolors for creative control, and Canva if you want to align slides with your brand visuals.
So remember, well-designed training PowerPoint templates that you design need to use the right color combinations.
How Can You Make Slides Accessible to All Learners?
Make your slides accessible by using readable fonts, large text, and PowerPoint’s built-in Accessibility Checker.
According to instructional design principles, accessible presentation design ensures that all learners can engage equally, regardless of ability.
There are several things you can do in the design to make the slides easier, such as for those with eyesight problems, those with special needs, or those with other disabilities.
i) How Do You Use PowerPoint’s Accessibility Checker?
On the employee training PowerPoint packs that we design, we always use PowerPoint’s Accessibility Checker to check each template and slide we create.
This is a tool that is part of PowerPoint and that I recommend you use.
To use the Accessibility Checker, go to Review on the top menu and select Check Accessibility. The version shown in the screenshot also includes an Options: Ease of Access setting.
The Accessibility Checker, when selected, will give you suggestions and recommendations on things you need to change to make the slides more accessible for all.
ii) Standard Design Considerations
When thinking about PowerPoint design for trainers, I also recommend considering the following:
- Use a minimum font size of 28 for any text on the slides. This will help the visually impaired (but it is also good practice to make slides easier to read from a distance for anybody).
- Consider using sans-serif fonts. Sans Serif is a font without the little extra decorative stroke at the end of each part of a letter. This font type is considered to be quite a crisp and clean design, and thus it is deemed easier to read, particularly for people with dyslexia.
- Avoid underlined text and italics as these can cause difficulties for people with dyslexia or visual impairments. Use bold for emphasis instead.
- Try also to make the PPT slides uncluttered (I’ll discuss this more in the point below)
- Make sure that the color of any text on your slides contrasts clearly with the background so that it is easy to read.
Why Is White Space Important in Slide Design?
White space improves readability and keeps learners focused on your key points.
- Use high-quality images and graphics to ensure that you maximize the visual impact of the slide and give the slide a colorful and clean look.
- The image itself should add to the narrative, meaning that the image should help to tell the story being told.
- Avoid adding too much writing on the slides. PPT slides should communicate information visually, i.e., you should rely mostly on images and graphics and limit the amount of text you use so that the slides do not look cluttered (see point below). If you want your audience to read further information, provide them with handouts.
- The slides should not look cluttered. One way to avoid clutter is to have plenty of white space on the slide and to put text into bullet points when you have a few key points to make on one slide.
As you can see from the slide example above, the notes use bullet points to make each point clearly separate.
How Do Teaching Notes Help Trainers Deliver Training More Effectively?
Teaching notes help to ensure that the lesson is kept on track and consistent.
Even if you are designing the PowerPoint PPT slides for your own use, by the time you come to teaching and using the slides, it is easy to forget all of the key points that you want to raise.
The text and information on the slide itself should, of course, provide the main prompts to help you teach, but the teaching notes pane can be extremely helpful to use.
You can add notes below the slide, and these notes will only be visible to you, the teacher or trainer, as you teach.
Should You Create or Buy Ready-Made Training PowerPoints?
Buying editable training materials can save you days of design time and ensure professional, consistent slide layouts.
Do you have the time to spend a few weeks designing the PowerPoint slides for the teaching materials? Or would you prefer to spend your time doing other things?
You can save days, if not weeks, of your time.
One of the easiest ways is to buy ready-made training materials that you can download instantly, edit, and customize, and that are very affordable.
What Is PowerPoint Designer and How Do You Use It?
PowerPoint’s Design Ideas tool automatically suggests professional slide layouts to improve your design quickly.
In PowerPoint, you can find the ‘Design Ideas’ option by simply selecting ‘Design’ on the top PowerPoint menu, and then you will see the ‘Design Ideas’ box on the far right of the page.
Simply click the Design Ideas box, and PowerPoint will offer you several options for different ways to design the slide you are working on.
If you like one of the design idea suggestions, then just click that design option you see, and your slide will update to be the design you just chose.
It is incredibly easy and a great tool.
When Should You Use Animations in Training Slides?
Use animations to reveal information step-by-step without overwhelming learners, for example, when showing different stages of a process, or to reveal one bullet point at a time.
Apart from the above scenarios for using animations, try to severely limit the use of flash and animations that add nothing to the design of the PowerPoint slides.
It is too easy to get excited and to get carried away when first designing training materials and lesson plans on PowerPoint.
The key is to keep things simple but with a nice design, such as with clear images, plenty of white space, and text that is to the point.
How Can You Edit and Replace Images in PowerPoint?
You can replace images easily using ‘Change Picture’ or the Selection Pane tools in PowerPoint.
a. Changing Images with a Right Click
In many instances, you can right-click the mouse over the image and then select:
- Change Picture
- This Device
And then you select the image you wish to use from your computer.
Most of the time, this is all you need to do, and it is very straightforward.
b. Changing Images Via the Selection Pane
If you right-click over the image and there is NO ‘Change Picture’ option, do not worry.
This likely means that the slide uses the PowerPoint Designer suggestions tab (don’t worry if you do not know what this is), and in this case, there is a different way to change the image.
So in this case, what you need to do to change the image is the following:
- Click the ‘Home‘ tab on the top menu of PowerPoint at the very top of the page (where you see Home, Insert, Design, etc)
- Then choose ‘Select‘ and then ‘Selection Pane‘ as shown in the image below.
- Then select the item from the list that you see (see image below). You will know when you have selected the photo you want to change because it will be highlighted.
- As in this case, the image is inside a shape. In order to change the image, you will need to click on ‘Shape fill’ (this can be found in the ‘Home’ tab or in the ‘Shape Format’ tab), then choose the ‘picture’ option, and then select the picture you want.
- Note that you might have to make the image the same size as the one you are replacing.
How Does Storytelling Improve PowerPoint Training Design?
Storytelling helps learners connect emotionally and makes it easier for them to remember information more easily.
In other words, this is about using an approach that involves:
- Organizing content narratively
- Establishing context
- Using real-world examples
- Highlighting challenges and solutions
- Visual storytelling
- and that ends with a recap and call to action.
This approach enhances engagement, comprehension, and retention by presenting information in a cohesive and relatable manner, making it easier for employees to apply the learned concepts in their roles.
We humans naturally connect with stories, and so, by organizing your training content in a narrative structure, you create a more engaging and memorable learning experience.
You can create this narrative structure by having a logical sequence that flows through the PowerPoint and includes a clear and logical beginning, middle, and ending.
Introduce concepts gradually, building a cohesive storyline that employees can follow, and use real-world examples that the specific audience you will be producing training for can relate to.
This approach supports learning retention and engagement, two key goals in corporate L&D training programs.
If offering training to doctors, for instance, then consider example scenarios and team-building activities that involve hospital or medical situations.
If providing training to a team of employees from a software design company, use IT examples and scenarios.
Why Use PowerPoint to Design Training Course Materials?
PowerPoint remains one of the most accessible, customizable, and engaging tools for creating professional training materials.
1. Ease of Use
While there are things in PowerPoint that can take a little time to figure out, as far as software goes, PowerPoint is fairly easy to use.
Adding in content, images, and some animation in PowerPoint is manageable for most fairly basic computer users, so it is something you should be able to work with as a corporate trainer or teacher.
2. Aesthetics
It is more than possible to make some very visually appealing training material PPT slides, and there are several templates within PowerPoint that you can use.
3. Structuring Training Materials
As with any training materials, you will want to design them so that they look good structurally.
In PowerPoint, it’s easy to organize training into slides, in a logical sequence, and use bullet points, numbering, and visual cues to highlight key points and reinforce learning objectives.
4. Customization
I know I keep saying that everything is fairly easy, but I believe it is fair to say that it is not difficult in PowerPoint to modify slide layouts, colors, fonts, and graphics.
In other words, designing the slides to reflect the branding or style guidelines of the organization you are providing training for is within your means.
5. Interactivity
You can actually do some quite jazzy things in PowerPoint if you have the time to work on it.
You can, for example, include interactive features such as buttons and animations.
Get more daring, and you can include interactive exercises, quizzes, and simulations to make your workshops even more engaging.
6. Integration with Other Tools
Being part of Microsoft Office, PowerPoint integrates nicely with other applications such as Word, Excel, and Outlook.
The advantage of this is that it makes it easy to import data, charts, and graphs from other parts of MS Office.
PowerPoint is also compatible with other software packages, such as live polling software.
Explore More Trainer Resources
This article is part of our Corporate Trainer Resources series — where we provide practical guides, design tips, and editable course materials for workplace learning.
FAQs
Here are some of the most common questions trainers ask about designing PowerPoint training slides.
How many slides should a training PowerPoint have?
It completely depends on whether you are designing for a 1- or 2-hour, half-day, 1- or 2-day workshop. I typically recommend roughly 5 slides for each hour of training (including slides for activities).
Where can I get designs for PowerPoint?
You can buy fully pre-designed soft skills training materials, such as those from Symonds Research. Or you can look at sites such as Canva and Snappa for PowerPoint templates. You can also find some designs already included in PowerPoint.
How do you make a professional PowerPoint design?
1. Use a color palette to use colors that naturally work well together.
2. Make sure there is enough whitespace, i.e., by using bullet points to present facts on a slide.
3. Use clear images that your target audience will relate to.
4. Have a good structure, i.e., start with an introduction, then aims and objectives, and then go through each objective.
5. Get someone to proofread every slide before using the design.
