good interactive presentation ideas

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Blog Marketing 15 Interactive Presentation Ideas to Elevate Engagement

15 Interactive Presentation Ideas to Elevate Engagement

Written by: Krystle Wong Aug 04, 2023

As attention spans continue to shrink, the challenge of engaging audiences in a short timeframe has never been more significant. Let’s face it — grabbing and keeping your audience’s attention can be quite the challenge, especially when time is ticking away. But fear not, I’ve got the perfect solution: interactive presentations!

Believe it or not, creating an interactive presentation is easier than you might think. In this guide, I’ll show you how to effortlessly turn ordinary slides into captivating experiences with 15 interactive presentation ideas that will leave your audience begging for more. From quirky polls and fun games to storytelling adventures and multimedia magic, these ideas will take your presentation game to the next level.

Venngage is a game-changer when it comes to empowering interactive presentations. With just a few clicks, users can customize their favorite presentation templates , add multimedia content and create immersive experiences that leave a lasting impact. Whether you’re a seasoned presenter or a newcomer, get started with Venngage to elevate your presentation game to new heights of engagement and creativity.

Click to jump ahead:

What is an interactive presentation?

15 ways to make a presentation interactive, 7 best interactive presentation software, what are some common mistakes to avoid when creating interactive presentations, interactive presentation faqs, how to create an interactive presentation with venngage.

An interactive presentation is a dynamic and engaging communication format that involves active participation and collaboration between the presenter and the audience. Unlike traditional presentations where information is delivered in a one-way manner, interactive presentations invite the audience to interact, respond and contribute throughout the session.

Think of it as a two-way street where you and your audience have a friendly chat. It’s like playing a fun game where you ask questions, get live feedback and encourage people to share their thoughts. 

To make a good presentation , you can utilize various tools and techniques such as clickable buttons, polls, quizzes, discussions and multimedia elements to transform your slides into an interactive presentation. Whether you’re presenting in-person or giving a virtual presentation — when people are actively participating, they’re more likely to remember the stuff you’re talking about.

Interactive presentations leave a lasting impression on the audience. By encouraging active participation and feedback, interactive presentations facilitate better understanding and knowledge retention. Here are 15 innovative 5-minute interactive presentation ideas to captivate your audience from start to finish:

1. Ice-breaker questions

Start your presentation with intriguing and thought-provoking questions or a fun icebreaker game. These questions should be designed to pique the audience’s curiosity and encourage them to think about the topic you’ll be covering. By doing so, you create an immediate connection with your audience and set the stage for a more engaged and attentive audience.

For example, if you’re giving a business presentation about management and leadership training, you could ask audience questions such as “What’s the best business advice you’ve ever received, and how has it impacted your career?”

2. Live polling

Incorporate live polls during your presentation using audience response systems or polling apps . This allows you to collect real-time feedback, opinions and insights from active participants. Live polling encourages active participation and involvement, making your presentation feel like a collaborative and interactive experience.

3. Q&A sessions

Encourage the audience to ask questions throughout your presentation, especially for pitch deck presentations . Address these questions in real-time, which fosters a more interactive and dynamic atmosphere. This approach shows that you value the audience’s input and promotes a two-way communication flow.

4. Clickable buttons

Add clickable buttons to your slides, allowing the audience to navigate to specific sections or external resources at their own pace. For example, you could include links to your social media accounts or extra reading materials in your education presentation to give further information about the topic and get your students engaged.

By providing this autonomy, you empower the audience to explore areas of particular interest, creating a more personalized and engaging experience through your interactive slideshow.

5. Storytelling

Incorporate anecdotes or personal stories related to your topic. Storytelling is a powerful way to emotionally connect with your audience, making your presentation more relatable and memorable. A little storytelling along with a set of creative slides draws the audience in and keeps them engaged as they follow the narrative.

6. Interactive charts and graphs

Use interactive charts and graphs that respond to user input to make your presentation interactive. For instance, allow the audience to click on data points to view more detailed information or to change the displayed data series. Creating charts with interactive visuals help the audience interact with the data, fostering better understanding and engagement.

7. Animated infographics

Add animations to your infographics, making them visually dynamic and progressive. Animated infographics reveal information gradually, keeping the audience curious and attentive. This transforms complex data into an easily digestible and engaging format.

Venngage’s extensive library of infographic templates is a powerful tool to visualize data and elevate the interactivity of your presentations. Personalizing the visuals ensures a cohesive and professional look throughout your interactive presentation. The templates are highly customizable, allowing you to adjust colors, fonts, and styles to match your presentation’s theme and branding. 

8. Gamification

Introduce an interactive quiz, puzzles, or challenges related to your presentation content. Gamification adds an element of fun and competition, motivating the audience to participate actively and boosting their learning experience. Here are some gaming presentation templates you could use. 

9. Virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR)

If applicable, leverage VR or AR technologies to provide immersive experiences. These interactive presentation tools transport the audience into a virtual or augmented environment, making your presentation more captivating and memorable.

10. Collaborative whiteboarding

Get your audience involved in your presentation by utilizing digital whiteboards or collaborative tools to brainstorm ideas collectively. This fosters teamwork and creativity, enabling the audience to actively contribute and feel a sense of involvement in the presentation.

11. Hyperlinked text

Keep the information in your slides minimal with a simple presentation and incorporate hyperlinks to direct viewers to relevant websites or blogs , resources, or additional information. This encourages self-exploration and gives the audience the opportunity to delve deeper into topics of interest.

12. Role-playing

Engage the audience in role-playing scenarios to explore different perspectives. Role-playing promotes active learning and helps the audience relate the content to real-life situations, enhancing their understanding and retention.

13. Embedded videos

Include video clips in your slides to provide visual explanations, demonstrations, or interviews. Videos add a dynamic element to your presentation, enriching the content and keeping the audience engaged.

14. Audience-generated content

Encourage the audience to contribute ideas, stories or examples related to your professional presentation . Audience-generated content fosters a sense of ownership and involvement, making the presentation more interactive and personalized.

15. Slide transitions

Use slide transitions to create smooth animations between slides. Well-planned transitions maintain the audience’s interest and keep the presentation slides flowing seamlessly.

Interactive elements aside, enhance your presentation with these guides on how to summarize information for a captivating presentation and how to make a persuasive presentation to captivate your audience. 

If you’re looking to create engaging and interactive presentation slides that captivate your audience, these presentation software options are sure to elevate your game:

Prezi is renowned for its dynamic and non-linear presentation style, enabling users to craft visually stunning and interactive presentations. With an array of templates and animation effects, Prezi enhances audience engagement, making your presentations more captivating and memorable.

2. Mentimeter

Mentimeter serves as an audience response system, empowering real-time interaction during presentations. Users can create interactive polls, quizzes, word clouds and more, allowing the audience to respond using their smartphones or other devices. This fosters active participation and provides valuable feedback instantly.

3. Google Slides

Google Slides is a free cloud-based presentation software that not only offers collaboration features but also enables real-time interactions. It includes add-ons and third-party integrations to further enhance interactivity, making it an excellent choice for collaborative and engaging presentations.

4. Microsoft PowerPoint

PowerPoint, a classic presentation software, has evolved to incorporate more interactive features like live captions, real-time collaboration and interactive elements such as quizzes and forms. With its familiar interface and versatile functionalities, PowerPoint remains a reliable choice for interactive presentations.

5. Prezentor

Prezentor caters to sales-oriented presentations focusing on interactive storytelling and data-driven content. It offers analytics to track audience engagement and behavior during presentations, allowing you to fine-tune your approach and keep your audience hooked.

6. Opinion Stage

Opinion Stage is a visual and interactive data collection tool designed to engage and excite audiences whether sitting in a lecture hall, participating in a live Zoom, or watching an on-demand webinar. The Opinion Stage tools are simple and intuitive, making it easy to create attention-grabbing quizzes, surveys, and polls in minutes. A great way to spice up any presentation, encourage audience participation, and collect authentic feedback.

7 . Venngage

Venngage stands out as a versatile design tool that facilitates the creation of interactive infographics, data visualizations and presentations with ease. Offering various interactive elements and animations, Venngage empowers you to craft visually appealing and engaging presentations effortlessly.

With these interactive presentation software options at your disposal, you can unleash your creativity and deliver presentations that leave a lasting impact on your audience. So, go ahead and make your presentations interactive, captivating and memorable!

For more presentation software options, check out this blog on the 12 best presentation software for 2023.

Creating interactive presentations can be a game-changer for engaging your audience and enhancing your presentation skills, but steering clear of common pitfalls is essential. Here are some key mistakes to avoid when crafting your interactive presentations:

1. Overloading with interactivity

While interactivity is fantastic, bombarding your audience with too many interactive elements can backfire. Strive for a balanced approach that enhances engagement without overwhelming your listeners.

2. Ignoring audience relevance

Failing to tailor interactive elements to your audience’s interests and preferences can lead to disconnection. Make sure your interactions resonate with your specific audience for a more meaningful experience.

3. Not testing interactive elements

Skipping thorough testing of interactive features before showtime can spell disaster. Avoid technical glitches by diligently testing all interactive components in advance.

4. Poor timing and pace

Timing is everything, especially with interactive activities. Ensure seamless integration by planning your key points and the timing of your interactive elements carefully.

5. Lack of clear purpose

Every interactive element should serve a purpose and contribute to your presentation’s objectives. Don’t add interactions just for the sake of it — ensure they add value and align with your message.

6. Failing to engage beyond interactivity

While interactive elements are powerful tools, remember that content is king. Combine your interactive features with compelling storytelling and valuable insights to create an immersive and impactful presentation.

Incorporating animated slides into your interactive presentations enhances the overall appeal and interaction, turning an ordinary presentation into an engaging experience. Try it out with one of our animated presentation templates to get started. 

How do you start an interactive presentation?

Begin by grabbing the audience’s attention with an intriguing question or a surprising fact, setting the tone for a dynamic and engaging session.

Which type of presentation is the most interactive?

Workshops and seminars are often the most interactive types of presentations as they encourage active participation, discussions and hands-on activities.

How can interactive presentations enhance audience engagement?

Interactive presentations foster a two-way communication flow, involving the audience through polls, quizzes, discussions and multimedia elements, leading to increased interest, attentiveness and better retention of information.

What are some common interactive elements to include in a presentation?

Common interactive elements include clickable buttons, hyperlinked text, polls, quizzes, interactive charts, multimedia content and audience participation activities.

Can interactive presentations be used for educational purposes?

Absolutely! Interactive presentations are highly effective for educational purposes as they promote active learning, encourage critical thinking, and provide real-time feedback and knowledge exchange opportunities.

Need inspiration on how to give an engaging presentation ? Here are 120+ presentation ideas you could use. 

Venngage makes it easy for anyone to infuse interactivity into their presentations. From clickable buttons and hyperlinked text to interactive infographics and dynamic charts, Venngage offers a diverse range of interactive elements to captivate and engage the audience. Here’s how you can make your presentation more fun and interesting with Venngage:

• Sign up or log in to Venngage to access the platform.
• Choose a presentation template or start with a blank canvas to begin designing your interactive presentation.
• Add and edit slides in the Venngage editor to structure your presentation content effectively.
• Customize the design by selecting themes, fonts, colors and backgrounds to match your style and branding.
• Use interactive elements like buttons, links, pop-ups and hover effects to engage the audience during the presentation.
• Enhance engagement by incorporating interactive media such as videos and audio clips.
• Preview and test your entire presentation to ensure everything works smoothly before presenting it to your audience.
• Save your interactive presentation on Venngage and share it online or download it in various formats for presenting purposes.

Well, I hope these 15 5-minute interactive presentation examples can help unlock a new level of audience engagement for your next presentation. From fun quizzes and interactive storytelling to multimedia magic and gamified challenges, the possibilities are endless. So, don’t be afraid to experiment, tailor the ideas to suit your audience members and let your creativity shine.  

That said, remember to strike a balance and keep the interactivity purposeful and relevant. Some common mistakes to avoid when creating interactive slides include overloading the presentation with too many interactive elements and failing to align the interactive elements with the overall presentation goals and content. 

Got it? Great. Now let’s turn that boring presentation around!

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20 Interactive Presentation Ideas

Giving a presentation at work can be intimidating, even if this isn’t your first rodeo. You want to convey the information clearly and intelligently, but you also want it to be a crowd-pleaser. But how? The presentation has to be conducted professionally, but you don’t want to bore everyone or yourself, for that matter.

‍ Tedious, boring meetings serve no one and are a waste of time. This is a pity, as often good information is shared, but delivered in such a sterile way, that the audience doesn’t find it useful. What you want to give is an interactive presentation – where your audience feels seen by you and where real communication of ideas has occurred.

What Are The Benefits of an Interactive Presentation?

While you might feel that you just want to present the information and get this over with, audience engagement is crucial. Going the extra mile to make your presentation engaging and interactive won’t just make it more enjoyable for you and the audience, but a better learning experience for both of you. ‍

Think of interaction as a means of making your presentation more consumable for the audience. Trying to pull all of this together can drive you mad, but MeetingPulse is here to help. We’re an online platform, completely customizable for your company or organization.

We offer live interactive opportunities throughout your meeting with your audience, using computers, tablets, even their phones. Your audience will be completely engaged with your presentation, and you won’t have to worry about it. We can take this task off your plate.

‍ Related: Top Interactive Online Meeting Ideas

Putting together a creative and interactive presentation can be challenging. Here are 20 interactive presentation ideas:

We love icebreakers, don’t we? We secretly dread the ones that embarrass us, but the good news is, they don’t have to be embarrassing. The goal of ice-breakers is to warm up the audience and to initiate a rapport with them. This usually happens by getting to know one another better.

In a small audience, you might share a bit of information about yourself and ask each audience member to do the same. In a large meeting, you might ask the audience to introduce themselves to the person sitting next to them, or another favorite is Five of Anything .

Video Clips

We’ve all heard of death by Powerpoint , haven’t we? It’s a ghastly way to go. But fortunately, if you include a video clip or two in your slides, boredom may be avoided. A new voice can help your audience to remain engaged , and you can have help presenting bits of information.

Pro Tip: Let the video do the boring bit. A video clip can be a presentation within your presentation.

Keep the audience guessing. One slide doesn’t have to follow the next. You can mix things up a bit. Moving around your presentation, not following a predicted order, will engage your audience as you pique their interest. One exciting idea is to allow the audience to determine the course of topics — more on this one later.

Q&A Session

Asking and answering questions is a great way to get the audience involved. This can be more than a brief time at the end of a presentation for the audience to ask questions. Open questions may be asked of the audience throughout or breaks taken between sections for questions to be answered.

Interactive Quiz

Take your question-asking to a new level, and create an interactive quiz . The audience may engage with it on any device they have with them — even their phones. MeetingPulse is the expert on that. The quiz may also be embedded within your presentation, with questions strategically placed to gage audience expertise, attention, and engagement.

Bring Props

No, we don’t mean a bag of cool, but random stuff. Delivering an excellent presentation has a lot to do with storytelling. So a prop can be useful in injecting energy and adding another dimension to the topic. For maximum effect, the props should be few, and they shouldn’t distract from what you’re saying.

Tell a story

Everyone loves a good story! Telling your audience a story during your presentation will draw them to you and your topic . Stories stir our interest, our emotions, and they stay in our memory. The best speakers are excellent storytellers — so hone this skill.

Audio Narrative

Speaking for an extended period can be challenging, so add some audio narrative to your presentation. Pre-record audio on a few slides or sections so that you can have a break, and your audience hears a slight change in presentation. An audio narrative can go into more depth than the slide shows, or it can be an opportunity to add music or other invigorating elements.

Poll Your Audience

A sure-fire method for engagement is polling the audience . Asking questions that have to do with the topic or just a lot of fun questions, is an enjoyable way of interacting. Your poll can be with raised hands, or you can use software.

‍ MeetingPulse is experienced at creating interactive meetings with live polling for real-time engagement .

Discussion Questions

An audience divided into small discussion groups during a presentation, is a fantastic way of keeping everyone engaged and interested.

‍ Discussing topics relevant to the presentation will help the audience retain the information and the audience members will help each other gain a better understanding.

Encourage Movement

Our other ideas stimulate activity in the mind of the audience, but physical movement is necessary for the body. Many people fall asleep when they’re sat in one place for too long. If the audience is to be kept awake and fresh, movement is vital. This may be accomplished by frequent intermissions, where people can walk and stretch their legs, or by directed “movement breaks.”

Get Your Audience Asking Questions

Questions aren’t just for the end of the presentation. Audience members may be invited to write their questions on the topic at the beginning of the presentation . This helps them to be listening out for the information they especially wanted and fosters engagement. Frequent question breaks throughout the presentation are also helpful.

Let Your Audience Direct

This will mean a little extra work on your part, but giving the audience some say in the flow of the presentation, can be very rewarding. Your slides may be arranged on several points, and the audience may be allowed to choose which points they want to hear first, second, and so on. 

Share a Hashtag

If you’re presenting at an event that already has a branded hashtag, encourage your audience to use it as they ask questions and make comments on social media. But if your presentation is standalone, you can still create a hashtag and encourage the audience to use it. You can keep track of their questions and comments by tracking the hashtag on social media.

What can be more energizing than a little music at just the right moment? You can use music as a background to some of your slides, or do a fantastic blast of pop music to move onto a new section of your presentation. This will refocus your audience and keep them enthusiastic about your presentation. It’s also suitable for those directed movement breaks, aka dance breaks.

Transitions and Animations

Transitions on your slides may be automated, so they move smoothly from one to the next. You can create a theme with animation that shows itself throughout the presentation. Transitions can be made fun and visually appealing for your audience.

‍ This doesn’t have to bog you down, at MeetingPulse, we can integrate your Powerpoint with our interactive software and create a wildly engaging presentation.

Data Visualization

Data visualizations can demonstrate the facts and figures of your presentation in a display that helps the audience to understand it better. Visualizations can be in the form of colorful charts, graphs, infographics, etc. They are fun and engaging while helping to convey the meanings of your figures succinctly.

‍ Related: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos’ Tips for Running a Great Meeting

Get Off The Stage

It can be exciting for you and your audience if you occasionally leave the stage and walk among them. While we don’t recommend crowd surfing (unless it’s that kind of event), this is a great way to interact with the audience and heighten the energy in the whole room.

Augmented Reality

If you’re especially daring, augmented reality is making its way into the professional space. You can forget all about a slide presentation and create a 3-D experience for the audience. This idea is tech-heavy and tough on the budget, but if you can swing it, they won’t forget it. There won’t be one sleepy eye in the place!

Play With The Length and Structure

While you may have been allotted the usual stretch of time, it could be very refreshing to audiences if you got to the point, made the point, and sat down. Feel free to mess with the structure of your presentation as well.

Why not redesign your talk and forget the expected norms, and instead, consider your audience. Prioritize getting the information into their hands and making it a memorable and quality event.

Well, there you have it, twenty of the most exciting and interactive presentation ideas ever! What you have to present is important, so why not take the time to create an event that will be enjoyable, interesting, and engaging for everyone involved. You don’t have to try all of these ideas in one presentation, but add them to your toolbox for future ones.

‍ And remember that MeetingPulse is here with an online platform to take your presentations and meetings from mundane to memorable.

Get started with MeetingPulse today!

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How to make a presentation interactive and exciting

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What makes a presentation interactive?

Main benefits of interactive presentation, 9 ways to make your presentation interactive, types of interactive presentations, take your presentations to the next level.

An impactful speech or lecture requires more than being an articulate speaker . If you want the information to stick, your audience should engage with you and the material you’re presenting.

And that audience is changing. Among people with teleworkable jobs, 76% worked remotely some, most, or all of the time . Presentations are tricky when you’re catering to a virtual audience and don’t have the benefit of a physical space. And they’re even trickier when the people you’re speaking to are a mix of in-office and remote workers.

Creating a good presentation that incorporates the needs of both in-person and online audiences can feel like a tall order. But there’s a way to transform your spectators from passive listeners to active participants, giving them a memorable experience no matter the platform. And that solution is interaction.

Learning how to make a presentation interactive can grab and keep your audience's attention so they remember your session and its key takeaways. Here’s how to use interactive elements like Q&As, live demonstrations, and fun quizzes to make your presentations more exciting.

An interactive presentation has elements that involve the audience. The presenter engages with the group in real-time, asking and answering questions or encouraging participants to voice their opinions. Interactive presentations can also include online polls, quizzes, and face-to-face activities between audience members.

You’ve probably experienced a standard presentation where the speaker stands at the front of a projected PowerPoint slideshow, talking at you. Your only chance to engage comes when they open the floor to audience questions, and that’s only if there’s enough time. 

The presenter will still get the point across, but this approach can get boring, and it might be hard to pay attention if you’re not engaged. Around 90% of people admit to daydreaming during meetings and presentations , which can impact comprehension. An interactive presenter transforms the audience from viewers into active contributors and collaborators, making it easier to pay attention and gain from the meeting. 

A captivating presentation does more than just get the audience involved. It improves comprehension, helps you connect, and personalizes the experience. Here are more benefits to including interactive elements in presentations: 

• Connection: Human connection benefits everyone involved . An interactive presentation offers more back-and-forth between yourself and your audience, creating a sense of familiarity and an outlet for connection.
• Comprehension: Studies show that during conversations, the speaker’s brain activity and the listener’s brain activity mimic each other, which improves understanding . Interactivity helps the audience better absorb the information you’re presenting. 
• Engagement: Employee engagement leads to a happier workforce and improved company culture . Making the audience part of every meeting can contribute to their experience at work overall, and it’ll hold their interest in the moment. 
• Cooperation: Soliciting contributions or setting up participation activities means you won’t be talking for the whole presentation, which can help you feel less tired. You’re letting the audience do some of the work for you.
• Personalization: When you draw on your audience’s input, you’re creating a customized experience that is more meaningful and memorable. And interactivity means you’ll never give the same presentation twice, so your material will stay fresh.

Choose one (or a few) interactive elements to add interest to your presentation and improve comprehension. Experiment with different options and find the activities that stick. If you aren’t sure how it went, ask for presentation feedback to learn what the group enjoyed most and what you could improve. 

Here are a few interactive methods to try:

1. Icebreaker questions

Using a fun icebreaker to kick off your presentation creates a connection between yourself and members of the audience. You can keep it simple by asking a straightforward question or separating participants into small groups for an activity like charades. Whatever method you choose, you’ll help everyone relax, set the tone, and encourage participation for what’s to come. 

2. Storytelling

Listening to a good story makes your brain more engaged and helps you relate to the storyteller . Introduce your talk with a personal anecdote and use it to create a framework for your presentation. Try using music clips, video clips, or sound effects to add an extra level of interest.

As your speech progresses, you can refer back to your narrative and connect your ideas, creating a clearer line of thought. Telling a good story can also create a rapport with your audience, helping them relate to you through empathy or shared experience.  

Using interactive polls for presentations demonstrates that you care about your audience’s opinion. You can use a poll to gauge interest in a specific topic, learn how the group is feeling in the moment, or segue into a new section of the presentation. A live poll will also provide immediate feedback, helping you gauge whether your content has the effect you want it to.

Adding an interactive quiz for a presentation can help you read the room and assess your audience’s comprehension. Giving a quick quiz at the end of every section also lets you know if you need to follow up and explain your point further or open the floor to questions. Apps like Kahoot work well because everyone can pull out their smartphones and join in. The friendly competition of a quiz can also be a good motivator.

5. Question and answer

If you hold a Q&A session at the end of your presentation, the group might be too tired or rushed to find it meaningful. Instead, invite participants to ask their questions at key points throughout your talk. The information will be fresher in their minds, and a moment of conversation breaks up the lecture.

6. Demonstrations

If your presentation is about a product or concept, try showing it instead of telling it. Talking about the new app you’re launching isn’t as exciting as showing how it works. Demonstrating a concept, product, or service offers hands-on interaction and can make a more significant impact than words alone could.

7. Movement

Spending the whole presentation at the front of the room might bore both you and your audience. And it can be hard to create a personal connection when there’s a separation between you.

When you’re speaking, close the gap by moving through the venue space, pacing around, or speaking directly to different sections of the audience. Proximity and body language can help reinforce the connection you’ve built throughout your presentation.

Using props might sound gimmicky, but they can be powerful tools to help audiences engage with your material. Allowing your audience to interact with an item related to your speech can help break the third wall and add an element of fun.

Find an object that represents what you’re talking about, either literally or symbolically. For example, in Jill Bolte Taylor’s TED talk about her stroke, she shows the audience a real human brain to explain what happened .

You may have many methods for gauging your presentation’s success. Did the audience laugh at the jokes? Did you receive thank-you emails after ? This kind of indirect feedback can be telling, but it doesn’t provide you with actionable data.

Instead, incorporating a post-event survey gives your audience one last chance to share their thoughts and opinions with you. It gives the group a moment for self-reflection on what they’ve learned, and the feedback can help you improve your presentation skills before your next talk.

To apply interactive techniques that work the way you want them to, you need to be clear on the type of presentation you’re giving. Presenting the past quarter’s sales numbers has vastly different requirements than a lecture inspiring high school students to start volunteering. Understanding your audience and having clear goals will inform the format of your presentation and what kind of interaction suits it best. You have some freedom to mix and match elements of one format into another as long as they're complimentary, like adding persuasive characteristics to an inspirational speech. Here are five types of interactive presentations, with examples.

1. Informative

The goal of an informative presentation is to educate your audience. The structure shares factual information in a direct, unadorned fashion. For this kind of presentation, quizzes and polls work best because they test the audience’s knowledge. You can also use props to help them better understand complex information.

EXAMPLE: You present a workshop about your company’s style guide to new members of the marketing team and use a quiz to gauge their understanding.

2. Persuasive

You use a persuasive format when making a sales pitch or convincing an audience to take specific actions. Props, movement, and Q&As all work well for this format because they keep your audience engaged and give them the chance to learn more about the topic.

EXAMPLE: You’re leading a public meeting to encourage citizens to begin recycling and composting, and you bring a full garbage bag to represent the amount of waste each person produces in a day.

3. Inspirational

If you’re familiar with TED talks, you’ve likely experienced an inspirational presentation format. These speeches use storytelling to boost morale or inspire audience members to change their behavior or perspective. Try moving around the space or asking the group an icebreaker question to get them involved with the story.

EXAMPLE: You give a speech about how you moved up the ladder at your company, and you move around the room to better connect with the audience and tell them they could do the same.

4. Outcome-related

This collaborative presentation structure generates the most interaction between yourself and the participants because its goal is to work together. Use it to brainstorm solutions to a problem or determine the process you need to reach a desired outcome. Polls, quizzes, and surveys all work well for outcome-related presentations. EXAMPLE: You hold a meeting to develop a social media strategy for a new client and give an anonymous survey where team members can submit ideas.

5. Instructive 

An instructive presentation takes a deep dive into a topic. By the end, audiences expect to better understand an idea, concept, or possibly a product. Using storytelling and props can help demonstrate difficult concepts and give an audience more ways to connect with the topic.

EXAMPLE: You give a lecture on the benefits of solar panels on domestic buildings, and you bring in a solar panel with a lightbulb to show how it works.

Speaking in front of a group can be a little intimidating. But learning how to make a presentation interactive can elevate the event and relieve some of the nervousness associated with public speaking .

Whether you’re reviewing the results of a marketing campaign or speaking about an issue near and dear to your heart, interactivity helps transform a one-sided lecture into a participatory event. Meaningful audience interactions help your audience remember what you’re talking about and connect with the story you’re telling.

So next time you develop a virtual team-building exercise or present last month’s sales report, you’ll have the interactive presentation ideas you need to create an engaging experience, no matter your audience.

Understand Yourself Better:

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Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

How to give a good presentation that captivates any audience

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How to Nail Interactive Presentations, According to HubSpot Experts

Updated: March 16, 2021

Published: December 07, 2020

I can distinctly remember being extremely excited to attend a presentation from a speaker whose book I had read and loved in class. Unfortunately, the speaker was not as engaging as I’d hoped, and I found myself getting bored and distracted.

Marketers know better than anyone that capturing audience attention goes hand in hand with keeping people engaged. If people are bored, their thoughts will drift somewhere else, and you’ll miss out on the opportunity to impact their behavior. This is true regardless of the marketing medium, from advertisements to presentations.

That being said, marketers need to create effective ways to gain audience attention during their presentations — one of those is interactivity. According to the Oxford Dictionary , interactivity is defined as how two people work together and influence each other. Therefore, creating interactive presentations means using strategies that will capture and hold audience attention. It makes it easier to leave lasting, meaningful impressions about the content you’re sharing with them.

This post will outline the importance of interactive presentations and share tips from HubSpot experts for giving engaging, interactive presentations.

Why are interactive presentations important?

Interactive presentations are those where audience members and presenters feel like they’re in conversation with each other. It’s a pivot away from the lecture and listeners feel, as presenters entice audiences to participate and interact with them.

The reason for creating interactive presentations is simple: marketers who make a connection with their audience are more likely to have them leave feeling as though they’ve learned something from you.

All marketers want to leave good impressions, so understanding how to do this during presentations is important. Below we’ve listed nine interactive presentation ideas that you can use when planning your next virtual or in-person events.

Interactive Presentation Ideas

Use a powerpoint., draw comparisons to your passions., tell a story..

• Start with an ice breaker.
• Break away from the expected format.

Have Q&A or AMA sessions.

Use data representations., get off the stage., share resources for later..

PowerPoints help you incorporate various media into your presentations, like text, images, and even videos. This ensures that there is an aspect of your presentation that appeals to every audience member, as everyone learns differently.

For example, someone may have an easier time digesting your content when they can see visual examples. In contrast, their neighbor may retain more information if they can follow along by reading a brief summary. When you tailor your presentation to meet the differing needs of your audience, it’s easier for everyone to interact with your content and learn from your talk.

Should you choose to use a PowerPoint, this HubSpot download gives you four different slide templates to choose from that can be used to create high-quality presentations. Alternatively, you could use a smart presentation maker like Beautiful.AI , which also includes interactive presentation elements and design. 

It’s probably safe to say that the presentation you’re giving is about a topic you’re an expert in. It’s also probably safe to say that your audience isn’t necessarily as informed as you are, so they’ll need more context to catch up to your level of understanding.

Content Creation and Lead Acquisition Marketing Manager AJ Beltis says that drawing comparisons to your passions during presentations can engage your audience and enhance their understanding of new concepts, especially if they aren’t contextually related. This could look like drawing in references to sports, movies, and pop culture.

Beltis says, “Help your audience better understand what you’re presenting by referencing something outside of the context — sports, movies, and pop culture references can work really well if they make sense.”

This keeps your audience engaged because you’re relating the information to real-life examples that may be more readily available to them. Bonus points if you use a humorous reference, which can cause your audience to create a positive association with the information and retain more of what you’re saying. If you begin with a cheerful anecdote, you’ll set the tone for the rest of the presentation.

Use an ice breaker.

One way to ensure that your presentation is interactive is to generate rapport with your audience with an ice breaker .

Ice breakers are short activities that audience members can participate in that are meant to inspire a sense of community and help audience members meet their neighbors. Ice breakers can also diffuse any sort of tension or anxiety from being around unfamiliar people.

If you’re at a loss for ideas, you can always try Two Truths and a Lie. Every audience member comes up with two factual statements about their life and one lie, and the rest of the audience works together to pick out the false statement.

Ice breakers are great because they are adaptable to both in-person and virtual meetings. For in-person events, per safety regulations, presenters can pre-select an ice breaker, and small audiences can go around the room responding to a question. For larger audiences, participants can simply introduce themselves to a neighbor.

For virtual events with small audiences, you can use the same structure as in-person presentations, but larger audiences can be broken down into smaller, more intimate break-out rooms. Either way, people are still breaking the ice, so to speak, and interacting with each other.

Use your presentations to interact with your audience by telling a story. It could be a personal anecdote, a story from a customer, or a well known-story that you adapt to illustrate your presentation’s message.

Senior Marketing Director Emmy Jonassen recalls one of the most memorable presentations from a HubSpot Marketing Team planning session: “There was a group that used Goldilocks and the Three Bears to illustrate how they went about solidifying the perfect strategy. The story paired with the imagery kept the audience engaged, and people were listening and laughing.” Jonassen says that, almost a year later, that was one of the most memorable presentations of the two-day session.

By telling a story, you’re using interactivity to influence your audience and help them remember what you’re sharing with them. A story gives your audience something to associate the information with, which may make the information you’re sharing easier to recall. You’ve used a story to influence their retention of the information you’re presenting.

Using data representations is a valuable way to showcase your content in a digestible format. For reference, data visualization is using things like charts and diagrams to help viewers understand the significance of the information you’re showing them. It’s easy to say the words out loud, but using pictures gives the audience a visual representation of your words.

Say you’re a marketer giving a presentation on the benefits your business has found from advertising on different social media sites. You can certainly verbalize how Twitter was the best, but using a chart that shows the difference in return on investment (ROI) between different platforms gives audience members a visual representation of your success.

If you’re a HubSpot user, Marketing Hub allows you to create visualizations from the data in your HubSpot analytics reports. The image below is a pie chart that was created using HubSpot reports.

All-in-all, data visualization increases the impact of your words because audience members get a picture of the significance of the information you’re giving them.

Breakaway from the “expected” format.

The disappointing presentation I mentioned earlier followed the typical structure of an introduction, content presentation, brief Q&A, and then it was over. I expected more interactivity from the author, but it really felt like a regular college lecture. I wish the author had mixed it up and varied their structure, maybe by asking us questions about our interpretations of the book, but she didn’t.

Many presenters follow this structure, and there’s nothing wrong with it, but the framework can become boring to your audience. If you mix it up and vary your style in a way that your audience wouldn’t expect, you can capture their attention by throwing them off (in a good way), and they’re likely to stay attentive because they don’t know what’s coming next.

Amanda Sellers, Historical Optimization Writer, says that breaking away from expected format could mean playing a game, or subverting expectations. She recalls giving a presentation on a Monday afternoon where she knew that the audience would likely be a bit quiet. For part of her presentation, she had the audience stand up and repeat the words she was saying; “Standing up got their blood flowin’, and I encouraged them to participate at full volume. This shook up the presentation, and it helped with information retention because the attendees were listening and repeating back the information.”

Breaking away from the expected format doesn’t necessarily mean that you should do something at the beginning that you’d usually do at the end — get creative with what this means to you personally and how it would benefit your presentations' interactivity.

A great way to interact with your audience is to have question and answer (Q&A) or ask me anything (AMA) sessions during your presentation.

When you do this, audience members can ask clarifying questions about what you’ve already said to gain a full understanding before moving on to the next concept. For example, if you’re presenting your recent marketing campaign , consider stopping after each step of your plan (like plan goals, measurement, target audience, etc) to allow the audience to ask clarifying questions before you move on to the next section.

You can also switch it up and ask audience members questions, as they likely have valuable input into the topic at hand. Consider creating quizzes and polls where they can respond to your questions and submit feedback. You can make submissions anonymous so audience members feel comfortable to share anything (within reason) that they have on their mind.

Weaving Q&A and AMA opportunities throughout your presentation is also a great way to re-capture audience attention if they have become distracted, as it requires them to think critically about your content and their own information retention.

During virtual presentations, audience members may not feel as comfortable interrupting you to ask clarifying questions, so purposely taking the time to ask participants questions or have them ask you questions is worth considering. Becca Stamp, Senior Learning & Development Operations, says “It’s important to give everyone space to come off mute and contribute throughout the session. The participants add so much value to the session, either through discussion or over the zoom chat.”

During in-person presentations, getting off the stage and quite literally leveling yourself with your audience is worth considering.

Most people expect presenters to remain on stage and separated from them, so varying your delivery style and being closer to your audience may inspire a sense of interaction that is different from simply standing in front of a podium for 20 minutes.

If you employ this strategy, you can also have Q&As and where you walk over to audience members and respond to their questions as if you’re having a one on one conversation. Referring back to the definition of interactivity, you’re leaving an effect on your audience by being more approachable than they’d expect.

A useful way to inspire continuous interaction with your audience is to leave them with something to take away from your presentation. Depending on the content you’re sharing, maybe you’ll hand out brochures to advertise your service, provide them with a link to your website, or have them sign up for an email list.

Whatever your desired action is, giving them a way to remember you and your presentation is a great way to inspire continuous interaction with them.

Spend Time Making Your Presentations Interactive

All-in-all, the goal of creating interactive presentations is to influence your audience members. Whatever your presentation content is, using strategies that center audience engagement is a valuable way to connect with them and teach them something new.

Feeling like they’ve been in conversation with you rather than being talked at can help you fulfill the ultimate goal of marketing: to leave a lasting impression.

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21 Interactive Presentation Ideas for Maximum Engagement

Elevate your presentations to new heights of engagement with these 7 must-try interactive methods that will captivate your audience..

Nobody wants a presentation as dry as a stale cracker,  Most people admit to multitasking during business presentations, with around 73% indulging in it. How can you ensure your audience doesn't fall into this statistic?  

Enter interactive presentation. These experiences are engaging, memorable, and keep your audience actively involved. 

In this blog, we'll delve into the world of interactive presentations, providing practical tips to captivate your audience and showcasing how Cleverstory can elevate your presentation game.  

What is an Interactive Presentation?

An interactive presentation is a dynamic experience that extends beyond traditional formats. Engaging the audience throughout, it incorporates elements like quizzes and polls to create a participatory atmosphere. It goes beyond isolated interactions, enhancing the overall impact and retention of the content, making the presentation memorable and effective.

Build Content experience that captivates your buyers

Benefits of Interactive Presentation:   

Enhanced Knowledge Retention:

Interactive presentations transform information into an engaging experience, making it more likely for the audience to remember and understand key points. This active participation aids in long-term knowledge retention and comprehension.

Drives Measurable Success:

By monitoring audience interactions, you not only understand what resonates but also refine your sales pitch accordingly. This data-driven approach significantly increases the likelihood of turning potential clients into loyal customers, directly impacting your ROI.

Builds Brand Strength:

The captivating nature of interactive presentations contributes to a positive brand perception. This strengthened perception gives your brand a distinct advantage in a competitive market.

Expands Reach through Accessibility:

Integrating interactive elements, videos, and audio enhances accessibility, and with the interactive presentations being easily adaptable ensures that your message reaches a broader audience.

Facilitates Real-time Engagement:

Interactive presentations enable real-time engagement with your audience. Through live discussions, Q&A sessions, and instant feedback, you establish a direct connection, making your message more impactful and building a relationship with your audience.

Tailors Content for Individual Preferences:

The interactive nature allows customization based on individual preferences. Whether it's choosing specific content paths or participating in polls, attendees feel more connected as they actively shape their presentation experience, fostering a sense of personalization.

Creates Memorable Experiences:

Interactivity adds an element of novelty to your presentation, making it memorable for your audience. Memorable experiences are more likely to be shared, extending the reach of your brand and message beyond the immediate presentation. 

20+ Ideas to Create an Interactive Presentation:   

When considering interactive presentations, it's crucial to choose methods tailored to your specific scenario. Here, we've outlined some easily adoptable techniques to implement and enhance interactivity in your presentations.

1. Icebreaker Games:

If you want people to participate, incorporate fun games that make participants comfortable and encourage interaction. Some example ice breaker games: 

• Two Truths and a Lie 
• Find Your Match
• Speed Networking.

2. Real-time Q&A:

When you incorporate real-time questions and answers, it allows the participants to respond immediately, which in turn fosters engagement, all the while addressing concerns.

It can also give the participants a welcoming atmosphere, all the while encouraging them to know more about your product/service. 

3. Interactive Testimonials & Case Studies:

What makes interactive testimonials and case studies valuable is that they give the participants fool proof evidence about everything you have been explaining so far.

It also gives them a chance to see how your product/service is relevant and be the solution to their problems. 

Also it’s important to make sure that the specific pointers are from the testimonials are highlighted and when shared, people can explore the mentioned statistics at their own convenience.

And this is  where the - anchor text, interactive elements, interactive scrolling, easy embedding of pdf - features of Cleverstory comes into play. It makes the whole experience all the more memorable for the viewers.

4. Data Visualisations:

Sometimes, the content you present can be overwhelming when there is a lot of data. This is because the data you present is seen as just another text. But, presenting complex data in engaging infographics, charts, and dashboards that update in real-time makes it easier to understand.

Thus, the data you desperately want your audience to retain is now already in their head. 

Plus with Cleverstory’s easy embedding features you can pull up these charts, infographics, and dashboards from anywhere and add it to your presentation.

5. Adding Videos:

It is universal that some things are better conveyed in video than in text.

Thus, it is important that you break up your text and engage visually with relevant clips, demos, or testimonials every now and then in your presentation otherwise it’s gonna sound very monotonous.

Cleverstory takes this up a notch and lets you embed these videos into your presentation as inline assets by this way you will be able to track the engagement of your audience with the video specifically and gives you more insights on what picks their interest.

6. Adding Audios:

According to research conducted by Lehmann and Seufert in 2017, about 50% of people showed improvement in recalling what was told to them when it was associated with sound effects.

Thus, including music, sound effects, or voiceovers to create a specific mood will not only enhance your presentation’s storytelling but will also help the participants retain the concept of the presentation. 

7. Breakout Sessions:

While you give the participants breaks between your presentations, it will encourage them to brainstorm ideas and interact with fellow participants.

This also enhances collaboration while keeping the audience engaged and hyped up. 

8. Branching Narrative:

Linear presentations are great, but when your presentation branches out to different set of slides based on your audience response to certain questions or scenarios it makes the presentation all the more personalized and engaging.  

9. Avoid Text-Heavy Slides:

Text-heavy slides can not only look overwhelming, but they can easily distract the participants. Text-heavy slides are a sure-shot way to make sure your audience multitasks during your presentation.

Use visuals, graphics, and concise points to make information clear and engaging.

10. Flipbook Experience:  

Imagine a captivating digital experience resembling a book, allowing you to seamlessly flip through pages. Sounds cool right? - Cleverstory does exactly that.

These pages do not have any limitations on the volume of information that can be added within each flip, providing an unrestricted canvas for exploration.

Unlike traditional PDFs and PowerPoint presentations, the flipbook approach encourages effortless navigation and engagement. Users can seamlessly search within the flip pages, transforming the way information is accessed and absorbed. 

11. Adding Animated Icons:

Adding animated icons and interactive elements to your presentations isn't just about making things look cool—it's about boosting how engaging and effective your communication is.

These elements don't just sit there; they contribute to telling a good story, adding personality to your brand, and helping organize information in a way that's modern and innovative.

Cleverstory takes this up a notch with the interactive element features like: parallax, spin, fade, reveal, that adds depth to the content and makes each scroll interesting. 

12. Hidden Clues with Awards & Rewards:

What if you tell the audience that your presentation has a bunch of clues, and once they figure it out, they will be given discounts/offers/coupons on your products/services.

Not only will it help with engagement, but it will also lead to conversion. This could also play a significant role in webinars and event shows. 

13. Easily Shareable & Accessible:

Don’t you want the presentation you worked so hard on to be seen by other potential prospects apart from the group you are presenting to? Thus, it is important to ensure that your presentation is accessible and can be easily shared online or downloaded for offline viewing.

With Cleverstory your content is easily shareable - and you can also optimise it for the various views like laptop, tab or mobile view making the overall experience more easier.

This plays a major role in situations where the sales reps are on the field and would be using, tabs or ipads to help with their presentation/ pitch.

14. Storytelling:

Craft a compelling narrative that connects your audience emotionally and strengthens your message. Storytelling helps the audience to retain the conveyed message much faster and more easily. 

In cleverstory You get to weave the story with each scroll, the animations and interactive elements all align with your scroll and make your presentation more alive which in turn that helps in easier navigation and better engagement.

15. Clickable Buttons:

Guide the audience through the presentation with interactive buttons for navigation, additional content, or action prompts.

Instead of overwhelming your audience with information after information it's better to just have the important ones on the page and add in a CTA there which when clicked on would take them to the specific section or landing page

Where you have additional information about it this way you can make sure that you won’t be giving your audience a fatigue.

  Cleverstory takes this up notch and helps you track when your viewers click on these specific buttons helping you to know exactly what interests them.

16. Quizzes & Polls:

Adding quizzes and polls into your presentation furthers audience engagement and tests the audience’s knowledge about how much they have understood the subject you are presenting. There are various types of quizzes and polls you can include. For starters: 

• Interactive scenario quiz
• Picture Puzzles 
• Problem solving quiz 
• Open-ended polls

With interactive content creation tools like Cleverstory, you can embed your quiz, questionnaires, and polls directly into the presentation created with it no matter where you have created it can be embedded in a couple of clicks into your current presentation so you don’t create it from scratch in your current presentation.

17. Interactive Scrolling:

Design your presentation to react to audience scrolling, revealing content progressively or triggering interactive elements.

With tools like Cleverstory each scroll increases the  engagement of the audience, and the interactive element aligns itself to the scroll making sure to give your audience a better experience .

To Make content that is bingeable and not boring

18. Social Media Integration:

Encourage real-time engagement and reach a wider audience with a designated hashtag, live tweets, or social media polls.

Also if you were to share your presentation on social platforms interactive presentation ensures that your content stands out in the crowded social media feed.

19. Adding Humour:

According to Forbes, presentations that incorporate humour are more memorable than ones without. Not only that, humour eases the audience’s tension but also yours!

Humour helps you lighten the mood and makes your message more relatable.

20. Body Language & Eye Contact:

When presenting, it is important that you maintain a confident posture, eye contact, and engage in your delivery to connect with your audience and enhance the presentation’s impact.

21. Hover Cards/Pop-Ups:

Provide supplemental information on specific points or visuals when users hover over them, offering deeper insights without cluttering the presentation.

Tools for making an interactive presentation

Okay, you might be wondering whether you've got to do the whole interactive presentation all by yourself from scratch. Fret not, my friend, because there are various tools out there that are designed to help you. Like Mario famously said, Let’s-a-go! 

Cleverstory - Present your story cleverly! 

• Cleverstory is a content experience platform made for professionals seeking to escape boring content and create impactful experiences.
• It has a drag-and-drop interface for easy content creation - hence, it requires no coding skills (every marketer’s one true wish!)
• It helps build interactive content for diverse formats like decks, reports, landing pages, resource hubs, and website embedding. 
• Cleverstory’s content adapts to any device for seamless delivery.
• It emphasises storytelling and helps build engaging narratives that connect with your audience. 
• The product is heavily user-friendly and has an intuitive interface. This means that you don’t have to go through that learning curve everyone dislikes. 
• Cleverstory also provides actionable insights that help by providing insights - based on the user active on the content, such as - views, shares, downloads, time spent, engagement with the interactive elements, bounce rates, and the assets viewed. 
• Cleverstory also helps to make interactive content out of PDF, PowerPoint, etc. you could simply upload the content, and in its place, interactive content will be created
• It has the ability to integrate graphs, charts, images, audio, gifs, videos, quizzes, polls, Q&A, and even chatbots.
• Also, there are a lot of immersive templates to choose from, so you don’t need to create from scratch all the time.

Make Content that is bingeable and not boring

Google slides

• Google Slides host hyperlinks that link slides or external websites to provide additional information or context.
• The animations & transitions in Google Slides use subtle animations and transitions to guide attention and add visual interest. 
• You can connect your Google slide with Google Meet, which helps you connect with your audience in real-time and address questions instantly.
• Embedded your Forms & Quizzes in Google slide to gather audience feedback and test their knowledge directly within the presentation
• Also easily helps with integrating images and videos and has a variety of templates and themes to choose from 

While Canva isn't primarily an interactive content creation platform like Cleverstory, it still offers several features and workarounds that can help you add a touch of interactivity to your designs, making them more engaging and dynamic.

• Canva helps add links to text, images, or buttons to direct users to external websites, pages, or resources, creating a self-guided experience.
• Create invisible clickable zones within images or designs to trigger actions like pop-up information, embedded media, or navigation to other slides.
• It can link directly to your social media profiles or encourage viewers to share your content with built-in social media buttons.
• Helps to Incorporate animated GIFs or short video clips to add movement and grab attention.
• Use advanced Canva charts with hover features that reveal additional data points or information on mouseover.
• Design your content with layered elements that can be revealed progressively through scrolling, clicking, or animation, creating a sense of discovery.

• Prezi lets you arrange your content on a single canvas, allowing you to zoom in and out, navigate between ideas organically,
• You can incorporate clickable objects, hotspots, quizzes, polls, and even video embeds to keep your audience actively involved. 
• Prezi's signature zoom feature lets you delve deeper into specific details within your content.
• Prezi Design lets you create interactive reports, infographics, and social media content.
• Create a dynamic video presentation where you can interact with your audience in real time.

Mentimeter:

• Mentimeter is an online presentation software. With this software, you can add quizzes and real-time voting to gather data and add images and GIFs to make your presentation engaging.
• Mentimeter is a cloud-based tool, meaning all you need to do to start working with it is sign up. Create presentations using templates and themes, quizzes with 13 question types, and insert images and GIFs from integrated free stock images and GIF libraries. Once your presentation is ready, just share a link with your audience.
• Well-designed interactive online presentations with real-time response and data analysis.
• Gathering feedback-based statistics at companies, schools, and universities.

To sum it up:

Interactive presentations can provide you with a myriad of possibilities. Most people just see it as a way to increase the active engagement of participants, It can do more. 

Consider using interactive presentation for your  demos, interactive classes, sales pitches, webinars, events, for your business reports and even marketing campaigns, - in each of these scenarios it can do way more than just boosting the engagement - it helps with identifying where exactly your audience are interacting, how many of your audience have gone through the content, what picks their interests, who have interacted with the presentation, personalize the content based on their interest, engage with them while they are on the presentation, and with a gating form you can even get the leads. 

Hence the things you can do with a interactive presentation tool has no limit, interactive presentations are no longer just your average engagement boosting tool.

How can I avoid overwhelming my audience with interactivity

To avoid overwhelming your audience with interactivity, strike a balance by incorporating engaging elements strategically. Ensure relevance and consider the pace to maintain interest without inundating them.

Examples of interactive games for presentations:

Examples of interactive games for presentations includes: 

• Decision-Making Games
• Digital Board Games
• scenario-based simulations

These games enhance audience engagement, making the presentation more memorable and impactful.

How to make an PPT interactive? 

You can manually make your PPTs interactive by including videos, images, audios and live QnA or you could just import your PPT to Cleverstory and it will make your interactive presentation ready in a few clicks.

Is multimedia presentation and interactive presentation same?

No, they are different, multimedia presentation involves adding images, audios, and videos where as interactive presentation goes beyond that making the user to engage with the content, they can click on specific details and navigate through it all the while giving you insights on how the users engage with the content.

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Interactive Presentation 101: Tips, Templates & Tools

Learn how to create an interactive presentation online. See examples of ready-to-use interactive presentation slides that are optimized for engagement.

Dominika Krukowska

7 minute read

Short answer

How can I make a presentation interactive?

• Add a video on the cover slide
• Use narrated scrollytelling design
• Add multimedia (videos, animations, and text-to-speech readers)
• Visualize your data using live graphs and charts
• Group your content in tabs
• Add input options such as embedded apps, surveys, or calculators
• Hide additional data under “read more”
• Incorporate a chatbot
• End with an interactive next step

Interactivity is a core experience, not just cosmetics

These days, everyone's trying to add a touch of flair to their decks. A fancy transition here, a clickable element there. But let's be honest: it won’t transform the core experience.

It's like putting racing stripes on a family car; sure, it looks faster, but under the hood, it's the same old engine.

If you're settling for these surface-level enhancements, you're missing out on the chance to truly engage your audience.

Instead of leaving them with a memorable experience, you're giving them just another presentation they'll forget by the next coffee break.

By using tools that provide interactivity as the core experience rather than cosmetics, you can transform your presentations from passive viewings into immersive experiences.

It's about creating a two-way conversation, where your audience doesn't just watch but participates.

If you want to elevate your content from being just another slide deck to something that resonates and inspires action you’ll wanna stick around.

This post will give you world-leading interactive presentation examples to learn from and templates you can use immediately.

Let’s go!

Why static presentations are bad for business

Let's face it: static presentations are like that dreaded homework from school. Remember the feeling of slogging through pages of text, eyes glazing over, wishing to be done with it and go do something actually interesting?

That's what your audience feels when they read your static slide deck.

Static presentations just dump information. They're a one-way street, and they expect the audience to passively absorb everything. It's a pain, and honestly, no one's a fan.

Now, imagine a presentation that's interactive. It's like stepping into a playground of information.

Your audience isn't just sitting there; they're involved. They can choose their path, delve deeper into what intrigues them, and skip what doesn't. It's a two-way journey, tailored to each viewer's pace and interest.

Here’s what the difference between static and interactive looks like:

Why more interactivity will NOT get you more engagement

When it comes to presentations, there's a clear divide: they're either interactive or they're not. It's like coffee; it's either decaf or it's not. There's no semi-caffeinated middle ground.

As long as you remain within the bounds of the legacy PowerPoint slide format, no amount of interactivity you add to it will make your presentation worth engaging with.

Now, you might be thinking, "But what about those Canva-like solutions? They add some flair, right?" Yes, they can jazz up your slides with a bit of motion and some shiny effects.

But let's be real: a sprinkle of glitter doesn't turn a rock into a diamond. Beneath the surface bling, the core experience remains static, limited, and boring. A bit of animation doesn’t change that.

These tools might give the illusion of interactivity, but it's just that—an illusion. True interactivity means giving your audience the reins and letting them navigate, explore, and engage with your content on their terms.

Anything less is just a dressed-up version of the same old static PowerPoint.

9 tips for making a truly powerful interactive presentation

Creating a presentation that stands out in today's digital overload is no small feat. But with the right tools and approach, you can turn passive viewers into active participants.

Here's how to make a truly powerful interactive presentation:

1) Add a video on the cover slide

Think of a time-lapse of a bustling city or a heartwarming clip from a community event. Such visual hooks not only captivate but also set the context for your narrative.

Here's an example of a deck with a video on the cover slide:

2) Use narrated design

A narrated design means structuring your slides to unfold like a story, guiding the viewer from one point to the next seamlessly. Letting your audience explore at their own pace increases engagement.

Here's a great example of narrated design:

3) Add multimedia elements

Go beyond text. Integrate images, sound bites, and short clips to highlight points, break up the flow, and cater to different learning preferences.

Here's an example of a multimedia deck:

4) Visualize your data using live graphs and charts

Numbers tell a tale, but in chunks, they're snooze-worthy. Use live graphs and charts to represent data in a digestible, visually appealing manner.

Here ' s an example of a presentation with dataviz elements:

5) Group your content in tabs

Think of this as chapters in a book. Tabs help segment and organize your content, allowing viewers to jump to sections that interest them most.

Here's an example of a tabs slide:

6) Add input options such as embedded apps, surveys, or calculators

Embedded apps can provide tailored experiences, surveys gather immediate audience feedback, and calculators allow for real-time data manipulation.

By including them, you invite your audience to actively engage, making the content more memorable and the experience more dynamic.

7) Hide additional data under “read more”

Offer a teaser, then dive deep. This approach ensures you cater to both the skim-readers and the deep-divers in your audience.

8) Incorporate a chatbot

It's like having a 24/7 assistant. Chatbots can provide instant answers, clarify doubts and keep viewers on track.

Here's an example of a deck with a chatbot:

9) End with an interactive next step

Ditch the generic "Thank You" slide. Instead, wrap up with a call to action, a thought-provoking question, or a personalized video message. It's about leaving a lasting impression and sparking action.

Here's an example of a presentation with a smart CTA:

How to create an interactive presentation with AI

As screens around us buzz with endless streams of content, the main challenge is creating presentations that rise above the noise.

Thankfully, with the help of AI, you can create an impactful interactive presentation in 6 easy steps.

1) Define your presentation’s purpose with AI

Start by letting the AI know the goal of your presentation. Whether you're pitching a solution to prospects, explaining a concept during a workshop, or showcasing quarterly results to stakeholders, AI can generate content that's both relevant and engaging.

2) Introduce your context

Provide the AI with a brief overview of who you are, your company's mission, the product or service you're highlighting, and the industry landscape. This helps the AI tailor the presentation to your unique narrative.

3) Choose a design template

No need to build from the ground up. Platforms like Storydoc offer a variety of design templates optimized for real-world performance. Pick one that resonates with your brand's voice and aesthetic.

4) Customize and add interactivity

This is where the magic happens. Integrate your content, adjust the design, and watch as the template adapts to fit your narrative. Spice things up with clickable tabs, real-time data charts, or other interactive elements.

And if you're feeling a bit unsure about your multimedia choices, you can also let the AI suggest some for you.

5) Add dynamic personalization

Modern tools allow for dynamic content adjustments. You can connect to your CRM, fetch relevant data, and use it to create presentations that feel tailor-made for each viewer in a matter of seconds.

This trick will make your audience feel more connected to your content and boost overall engagement.

6) Review, refine, and stay in control

Before hitting send, give your presentation a once-over. Make sure it flows seamlessly and your message shines through.

And here's the best part: since platforms like Storydoc are online-based, you can make on-the-fly adjustments even after sharing your presentation. No more “Did I just share the old draft?” panic.

7) Advanced: Use analytics to make continuous improvements

Every presentation you create with Storydoc comes with access to a robust analytics suite. This gives you a bird's-eye view of how your content performs, from viewer engagement metrics to slide-by-slide analysis.

Use this data to refine, tweak, and perfect your presentations over time.

Here's a short video explaining how our AI presentation maker works:

Best interactive presentation examples to inspire your own

Dive into our gallery and let these interactive presentation examples spark your inspiration and guide your next presentation journey.

Remember those captivating story books from childhood? The ones where you could choose your own adventure, turning to different pages based on your choices, and every read felt fresh and new?

That's the magic interactive presentation templates bring to the table.

While traditional presentations often feel like a boring lecture, we flip the script. These templates don't just present; they engage. Every element, every interaction, is optimized to ensure your audience isn't just watching—they're participating.

And it's not just about aesthetics. These templates have been in the trenches, battle-tested in real-world scenarios, and have come out as champions, driving results and making lasting impressions.

Best tools for making interactive presentations

While tools like Canva might add a touch of sparkle, they often fall short of creating a truly interactive experience.

So, if you're looking to elevate your presentations from static to dynamic, here's a list of the best tools that genuinely make a difference:

Storydoc is leading the charge in creating AI-powered interactive business presentations for sales, marketing, and reporting. It transforms traditional business decks into dynamic, immersive stories. With AI-driven design, content suggestions, and built-in deck analytics, it brings a storytelling experience into business communications.

Genially offers educational presentations used to enrich learning materials inside and outside the classroom. From dynamic infographics to gamification and thousands of classroom-ready templates, it comes with a range of tools to make your content interactive and engaging.

Foleon is an intuitive all-in-one platform that focuses on creating mini-sites that provide immersive content experiences that work across devices, packed with rich media and interactive elements.

Hi, I'm Dominika, Content Specialist at Storydoc. As a creative professional with experience in fashion, I'm here to show you how to amplify your brand message through the power of storytelling and eye-catching visuals.

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18 Ways to Make Your Presentation More Interactive

November 10, 2017 - Dom Barnard

It can be difficult to hold your audience’s attention for the entire presentation. According to a  Prezi study , half of the respondents said they did something other than listen during a co-worker’s presentation, including:

• Sending a text message (28%)
• Checking emails (27%)
• Falling asleep (17%)

An interactive presentation is much more likely to keep your audience’s attention and build rapport with them, and there are a few simple ways to achieve this, from live polling to asking questions throughout.

This article explores several different effective strategies for making the audience feel fully involved in your presentation and keeping your audience’s eyes away from their smartphones.

Why involve your audience?

Listening to a presentation for any length of time can be a difficult process. If you don’t involve the audience, they’ll start to play with their phones, talk to colleagues and generally lose track of what you are saying. Once this happens and you start seeing that the audience would rather be somewhere else, you’ll start feeling anxious and might try to speed up the presentation.

To engage a  large audience  fully, the presentation needs to be energetic, purposeful and staged, as if it is a direct conversation between both you and your audience. That way, they’ll absorb your ideas and insights and they’ll have learnt something in an enjoyable way.

1. Plan from the audience’s perspective

Before you start  writing your presentation , think about these points:

• What are the most interesting parts in my topic?
• How much will the audience know about my topic? What level do I target it at?
• Which members of the audience will most likely be disinterested?
• How can I help them learn and understand my topic?
• What is the size of the audience?

You can do this by researching the event or conference, investigating other speakers at the event and even contacting the organisers to find out more about the demographic.

By asking these questions about your audience and identifying answers, you are starting to think about your audience’s interests and needs. Remember, the aim is to give the impression that your presentation has been planned according to your audience’s specific interests.

2. Use an easy-to-follow structure

When building your presentation, focus on giving it a structure which people can easily follow. Start by introducing the core concepts and goals, then elaborate on the various points in a bit more detail, draw logical conclusions and leave your audience with a clear takeaway message. You want to flow naturally from one part to the next like you are telling a big story chapter by chapter.

3. Get the audience immediately involved

You audience will come to your presentation in a range of different moods. Try using a simple ice-breaker to re-energise them and get them focussed on your presentation.

For example, ask people to stand up and introduce themselves to their neighbours, or have them identify two or three questions they would like to hear addressed during your presentation. By starting with an ice-breaker, you show your audience that your talk will be interactive and require their participation.

4. Ask the audience questions during your presentation

The audience’s attention drops to zero after just 10-15 minutes of your presentation. To get their attention back, take a break from your presentation from time to time and interact with your audience. Ask for their questions and answer them during your presentation. This will help clear up any confusion the audience might have.

When planning your presentation, identify opportunities in your material for your audience to ask questions. If you’re not comfortable breaking the flow of your presentation, mention that you’ll be taking  questions at the end  so the audience can prepare some questions.

Asking rhetorical questions as you move through your presentation involves your audience by stimulating their own thought processes. This technique also helps move between sections of your presentation as it establishes a clear transition from one point to another.

If you’re comfortable with taking questions throughout your presentation, use a tools such as  Slido , which allows your audience to ask questions anonymously at any time, so even shy people can participate in the discussion.

Example of what can go wrong with audience interaction

Audience interaction:

Watch how the presenter tries but initially fails to get the audience to interact with the presentation. Notice how he encourages them to get involved and eventually they do join in.

5. Use storytelling to make it more memorable

Since our early ancestors, stories have always been a huge part of human culture and civilisation. Storytelling is the most universal way to captivate your audience’s attention, no matter where they are from or what they do for a living.

Stories are much more engaging and memorable than lists of facts and figures, but you wouldn’t think so looking at the majority of presentations (particularly academic ones).

People automatically tune in when you  start telling your story  because they want to know what happens next. A popular storytelling technique is when you present the status quo and then reveal an improved path to that end goal.

Think of your presentation as one arching narrative. As we mentioned earlier, give it the proper structure with a clear beginning, middle and end. Introduce conflict and provide a powerful resolution that reinforces your key messages.

6. Use non-linear presentation software

Instead of flipping through slide after slide, you can show the relationships between your ideas and give your audience the “big picture” view of your topic. Try letting your audience drive the presentation by laying out all of your main points, and then let them choose which topics they want to go to. Your audience will get a truly custom presentation based on their interests, which they will appreciate and more easily remember.

Prezi, shown above, is a popular non-linear presentation tool.

7. Add in a short video

Billions of hours of YouTube are consumed each month and advertisers have identified videos as having a high  retention rate  for users. However very few presentations ever use videos to engage with their audience.

Find a short video clip that reinforces your story or explains a concept better than words can. You can either embed the video directly into your presentation software or include a link to an external website. Just make sure you test your method on the day of the presentation and have a backup on a USB just in case you need it.

8. Invite people onto the stage

If you’re preparing a particularly long presentation, consider having other people to come on stage and talk for a bit. This will help you narrate the story and make the whole presentation more interactive.

Steve Jobs never pulled off the entire presentation by himself; he always invited several speakers, including designers, partners, and other executives, to help him introduce their latest product. Of course, this technique should always be arranged with your colleagues in advance.

9. Poll the audience

Polls are similar to quizzes in that they engage the audience during the presentation. Polls encourage participants to think not only about your questions but also about their answers. Moreover, live polls help create mental breaks, so your audience can regain attention and stay focused throughout your presentation.

By including everyone in answering the question, you also create a group experience that leaves the audience feeling like they all have been part your presentation.

10. Use (appropriate) humour

Some of the best speeches and presentations in the world feature plenty of humour. No matter the subject, a great speaker will use natural charisma, humour and language to convey their points and get the crowd excited about what they are saying.

A great example of building rapport with the audience through the use of humour is Barrack Obama talking about the government building Iron Man.

Another example is when  Morgan Spurlock  offers individuals the opportunity to buy the rights to name his TED talk—which he refers to again at the end, where he reveals the title. He peppers the entire presentation with humorous commentary that nonetheless supports his point.

Create relevant jokes or find a way to bring out the humour in your subject, and your audience will be much more engaged and more likely to remember your words.

11. Practice your delivery, again and again

Practicing is the most important part of delivering an interactive presentation. You’ll need to practice where to use live quizzes, when to accept questions, which points to emphasise with body language and many more. There are several options for practicing:

Practice Presentation Skills

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• In front of a mirror  – great for seeing and improving your body language, however it can be distracting to what you are saying.
• To friends or colleagues  – a useful way to get feedback on your presentation, try and action the feedback straight away to improve on it. You can also give the person some key areas to focus their feedback on if you believe you are weaker in those areas.
• Virtual reality  – practice in realistic  public speaking environments , whether it be in a virtual conference room or boardroom. Receive feedback on your speech with voice analysis technology.

With all three of these, you’ll want to work on your tone of voice, accent, pauses between sentences and facial expressions. The most important thing is to talk slowly and loudly enough to be heard and understood clearly.

A list of the best presentation skills courses you can practice with:

• Presentation Skills Training Courses

12. Try and relate to the audience

Make comparisons to events from everyday life that most people are more than familiar with. By making things look simple, not only will you help your audience get a better understanding of the subject by enabling them to visualize the information more clearly, you will also draw a connection between you.

After all, you are all just regular people with similar experience, you just happen to be performing different roles at the moment.

13. Strong body language (position, posture and gesture)

Non-verbal communication plays a large part in how we construct meaning, so it makes sense to consider how to use it in your presentation. You can make things more interesting for your audience by using  your body language  to enhance what you’re saying.

Body language goes beyond reinforcing your messaging – it’s useful from a biological standpoint. As discussed in her  body language TED talk , Amy Cuddy’s research found that using ‘assertive’ body language released testosterone and reduced cortisol in both men and women, thereby increasing confidence and decreasing stress.

An effective presenter pays close attention to the physical relationship with her/his audience. If you stand hidden behind an overhead projector or stand too far away from your audience, they will not develop a bond with you and this will limit the effectiveness of your presentation.

Your posture will also dictate levels of audience involvement. If you’re too relaxed and sit slumped in a chair to deliver your talk, the audience might drift away. Find a comfortable but purposeful position in relation to your audience and adopt an upright sitting or standing posture that allows for movement and gesture.

Audiences respond well to the physical energy and enthusiasm being conveyed by a presenter, and thus the use of clear and controlled gestures will greatly enhance your presentation. Gestures that are open and reach out to your audience serve to extend your presentation to them and thus help them feel more involved.

Examples of good body language:

• Use hand gestures when delivering key points
• Use calm, deliberate movements when highlighting certain information
• Keep arms and legs uncrossed

14. Maintain eye contact with all sections of the audience

Making eye contact is one of the most  powerful techniques  for involving your audience. If used well, eye contact can serve to make your address much more personal and thus more effective. If eye contact is avoided, the presenter can appear to be nervous and unconvincing.

It is important to share eye contact with all members of a small audience or all sections of a large audience. Avoid making eye contact with just the people you know, taking particular care not to deliver your entire presentation to the person who’s assessing your work. Remember that you will need to involve the whole audience if you are to make an effective presentation.

If you are nervous, eye contact can be very difficult to establish and maintain. Remember that some eye contact is better than none and that you should try to build your confidence over time.

15. Use live quizzes to better understand your audience

Live quizzes are a great way to understanding your audience better get them engaging with the material.

For example, if you’re giving a presentation on autonomous vehicles, you could ask questions such as:

• When do you think autonomous vehicles will become mainstream?
• Are you concerned by safety issues?
• If someone is injured or killed by the car, who is to blame?

These will surely create some interesting results which you, as the presenter, can talk about and discuss.

16. Use physical props if possible

You don’t need to be giving a product demo to use props during your presentation. Props are a great way to help the audience visually picture what you are talking about. While talking through your presentation, you can refer to the prop at certain points to highlight your point or make it clear to the audience.

Kenny Nguyen  does this will in his TEDx talk on ‘The Art of Saying No’. He refers to the “sword of yes” and “shield of no.” Naturally he picks up a sword and shield from the table to help demonstrate his points.

Another great example is when  Jill Bolte Taylor  brings a real human brain on stage during her TED talk to explain to what happened to her when she had a stroke. She touched the audience with this demonstration and left the audience in complete awe.

17. Extend your usual vocal range

Your tone of voice, your volume, and other vocal aspects affect how people listen and hear your message.

Julian Treasure’s  TED talk on ‘How to speak so that people want to listen’ is all about this, and at the end offers several tips ‘in our toolbox’ for how to master the use of voice, from changing your speaking pace to speaking in a different pitch.

Get feedback from a friend or colleague to see what works best for you.

18. Use language and literary techniques

Your use of language has a huge influence on the way you engage your audience. It’s important to use language your audience understands and is familiar with.

Avoid using language that is too formal or informal, too technical or too simplistic depending upon the nature of your talk and the knowledge base of your audience. Pitching your presentation at the right level can be a challenge but it is very effective for making the audience feel involved.

There are various  literary techniques  you can use, such as the Power or Three, to give greater impact to your message.

Involving your audience is essential to making an impact. Your presentation should pull them in, get their attention and stimulate their thoughts and understanding. This can be done in a number of ways.

The way that you plan your presentation will be critical in terms of using language and ideas that your audience will understand. You must also ensure that there is sufficient time for questions and discussion. The way that you deliver your presentation should create a bond with your audience.

Your use of eye contact, body language, spoken words and energy should  communicate effectively  and enthusiastically with all areas of the room, thus ensuring that the audience receives positive messages about you and your material.

14 Fun & Interactive Presentation Games for Teams and Students

So you've got an audience to energize, students to engage, or a team that needs a little extra fun — playing an interactive presentation game is an easy way to do just that.

We've done the research and found the best of these games for you: we looked specifically for games that are simple to set up, fun to play, and flexible enough to be used with a variety of presentations and audiences. Most of these activities work virtually with Zoom/PowerPoint and can also be used in person.

Which of these 14 presentation games do you like best? Take a look and let us know your favorites:

1. Live Trivia Competition

A great way to ramp up the excitement and engagement is to enable a little bit of friendly competition. Trivia is an easy way to do this—plus, it can be whole-group inclusive and large-audience friendly (if you use the right tools).

Here's a great trivia game you can run with your team, students, or any large audience. It's already created for you with questions and scoring built in to make it even easier:

Here's how to play:

• Make a free account here: https://slideswith.com/  
• Click the slide deck and copy it. 
• Launch the trivia game by clicking "Start Event."
• Invite your group to join in and submit answers using their mobile devices (show the winners automatically).
• Interact and play during your presentation!

This trivia game has questions on many topics to keep your audience's attention and appeal to everyone. It only takes 10-15 minutes to play, so it's a great game for long discussions! Also, this interactive activity is free for up to ten participants and is totally customizable.

2. Sing and Swing 

To really liven up your group, encourage your listeners to play Sing and Swing. This activity is best for long presentations because it boosts energy, creates a fun, light-hearted environment, and makes people laugh a lot. 

Here's how to play: 

• Before your presentation, pick a well-known song and rewrite the chorus (replace parts of it with words and phrases from your presentation) 
• When you're ready to play, show the song on your screen. 
• Invite your audience to sing it with you!

If you have a fun group or a class of energetic students, consider adding choreography to engage your audience even more. 

3. 20 Questions

If you want a presentation game that requires your listeners to talk more than you, 20 Questions is the one to play! A classic and simple activity, this game immediately boosts engagement and gets people laughing. 

Here's how to play: Have someone put an appropriate image or word on the screen behind you (this can be an audience member you trust or a colleague or co-presenter). To make things more fun, put on a blindfold so that everyone knows you can't cheat. From there, ask 20 "yes or no" questions to guess what's displayed on the screen. Your group should respond "yes" or "no" to guide you to the correct answer. 

4. Scavenger Hunt Challenge

To get your audience out of their seats, a scavenger hunt challenge is one of the best interactive games for presentations. It'll immediately energize your audience , team, or students while giving them a fun way to learn.  

There are tons of in-person and virtual scavenger hunt ideas you can use to dive deeper into your topic or help everyone learn about one another. But if you want a ready-to-play game that you can instantly launch without having any tech skills, here's a fun one to play: 

• Use an email address and password to create a free account here: https://slideswith.com/ (a free account guarantees up to ten people can play at no charge). 
• Click the game and press "Copy and use this slide deck." 
• In the top right corner, click "Start Event."
• Ask listeners to join the game by using their mobile devices to scan the QR code. Players should continue using their mobile devices to submit answers to questions.
• Have everyone start hunting for items! 

This activity is a particularly fun game because it's a photo-hunt, show-and-tell challenge! That means your audience will not only get out of their seats to find items, but they'll also get to take pictures and share and discuss photos of what they find. This conversational element will help engage your group! 

5. Group Word Clouds

Whether you're speaking to team members, students, or conference-goers, this activity lets you ask questions and get your listeners' thoughts on specific topics. 

This game is the perfect way to start your presentation, especially if you're discussing something with a wide range of opinions or are unsure how much your listeners know about a certain subject. Group Word Clouds is also beneficial if you want to do a quick meeting pulse or know how your listeners feel going into your presentation—understanding their energy levels and mood can help you adjust (if necessary) to get maximum engagement and excitement.

To enjoy this activity, keep things simple by using a tool that already offers a ready-to-play Group Word Clouds game. Here's a popular one you can launch immediately: 

• Create a free account by entering an email and password here: https://slideswith.com/  
• Click the game and then copy it (the button to do so is right underneath the slide deck).
• Press "Start Event" in the top right corner. 
• Tell participants to play by scanning the QR code. 
• Create word clouds and have fun!

This interactive game only takes 5-10 minutes to play, so it's a fast, fun way to engage your audience and feel out the room. Players can use their mobile devices to answer questions. This activity is also free for up to 10 people and is easy to personalize.

6. The Get to Know You Game

This activity is one of the best presentation games if you have a small group that doesn't really know each other. The Get to Know You Game is a creative way to do introductions, and it's really simple.

Here's how to play the game: Before the event, ask group members to bring a favorite song or item to the presentation (you can do this by emailing them). When you're ready to play, ask each person to introduce themself, present their song or item, and explain why they picked it. For those sharing a song, have them play it on their phones before they explain why it's their favorite. 

7. Live Poll Questions 

When you have a large group, it's not easy to find ways to boost engagement—but poll questions are the solutions, especially when they're live and interactive. With this unique setup, large groups engage by answering questions and seeing their answers displayed in a fun way. 

Your job is to make sure you actually find a game that showcases responses uniquely to captivate your group. For a quick and great option, here's a popular icebreaker activity that promises to display responses using fun formats like word clouds, donut charts, live graphs, and per-player: 

• Create an account for free to access the game:  https://slideswith.com/  
• Click the slide deck and press the button to copy it. 
• Look in the top right corner of the deck and press "Start Event."
• Invite your group to play the game. They only need to use their mobile devices to scan the QR code. 
• Start polling your audience!

This activity is one of those fun presentation games everyone will want to enjoy, so invite all of your team members and students to participate. This game can accommodate up to 250 players and takes 5-10 minutes to complete. Tell your group to use their mobile devices to submit their responses. 

8. Assumptions 

This interactive game is a great way to break up your presentation to see who's paying attention and who can answer questions pertaining to your topic. 

• Ask your audience to stand up (for virtual presentations, make sure everyone's video is on). 
• Show true or false statements on the screen one by one. 
• Tell people to raise a hand if they think the statement is correct and sit down if they think it's incorrect.
• Continue until one person is left standing.
• Award the winner. 

This activity can be as short and challenging as you want. Also, if your presentation is long, you can play multiple rounds to break up your speaking time and test your audience throughout your discussion.  

9. Controversial Questions 

Want to see where your audience, students, or team lands on controversial topics? Then, energize your presentation with a fun, creative game called Controversial Questions. This activity has prompts that inspire lively debates, so it's a great way to get your group excited and chatty. 

However, to maintain a positive environment, make sure to find a tool that offers an office-friendly, classroom-friendly, and conference-friendly game. You don't want to sour the mood by creating uncomfortable division during your presentation. To make sure this game is fun and light-hearted, here's a popular one that's suitable for all audiences and ages: 

• Sign up for a free account by inputting an email address and password here:  https://slideswith.com/pricing  
• Click the game and press the button that says, "Copy and use this deck." 
• Press "Start Event" (the button is in the top right corner). 
• Have participants join the fun by asking them to scan the QR code with their mobile devices. 
• Get controversial and play! 

This interactive game for presentations asks fun (but appropriate) questions like:

• Does pineapple belong on pizza?
• Does the person flying in the middle seat get both armrests?
• Should the toilet roll go over or under? 

Players should use their mobile devices to submit answers. Up to ten people can play for free, and you can customize the game by updating the questions!

10. Word of the Day 

With this activity, you can keep your audience, team, or students engaged throughout your entire presentation. This  game requires listeners to be alert and recognize whenever you say the word of the day. 

Here's how to play: At the beginning of your presentation, tell your group the word of the day (it can also be a phrase if you'd prefer). Say that you'll weave the word into your presentation and that your audience must shout it out whenever you mention it. 

11. Mini Activity: Group Icebreaker

Whether you're doing an in-person or virtual presentation, you need to warm up your audience to get things started on a positive note. The best way to do that is with a quick icebreaker game. 

However, make sure your questions are fun, positive, and engaging. You can easily do this by finding a game that already has the best icebreaker questions included. Here's one that's ready to play (and requiring no tech skills to launch): 

• Input an email address and password to make a free account here: https://slideswith.com/  
• Click the deck and copy it (press "Copy and use this deck). 
• Click the button in the top right corner that says "Start Event."
• Invite participants to play by asking them to scan the QR code. 
• Break the ice to warm up your audience!

Your group should use their mobile devices to submit responses to poll questions. Also, this game accommodates up to 250 players, but only ten people can join for free.

12. Process of Elimination 

This activity is one of the best games for presentations because it's simple yet fun and great at helping listeners get to know each other. You can play it at the beginning of your presentation or in the middle to give your group a chance to stretch their legs. 

• Before your event, create a list of "yes or no" questions. 
• Once you're ready to play, tell your group to stand up (if you're doing a virtual presentation, make sure everyone's video is on). 
• Ask each question one by one. 
• Tell attendees to stand if their answer is "yes" and sit if their answer is "no." 

The questions can relate to your topic or be totally random. Also, if you'd prefer to thin out the number of people standing, you can take a creative twist and ask your questions by saying something like this: "Stay standing if (insert scenario)." When phrasing each question this way, the game will end with one person standing. To acknowledge the winner, you can give them a round of applause or award them a prize. 

13. Conference Opener Icebreaker 

If you're speaking at a big conference, you need an interactive game for presentations that can get everyone involved and ensure every voice is heard. To achieve these goals, you should create an icebreaker game that works for large groups . 

Using an easy, intuitive template is the best step to take. That way, you don't have to start from scratch or spend hours making your game. For a template that requires no code or tech-savviness to build on, here's the best option: 

• Sign up by making a free account here: https://slideswith.com/  
• Click on the game. On the next page, click the button to copy and use the deck. 
• Customize the template using the instructions HERE . 
• During your presentation, press "Start Event" in the top right corner. 
• Ask the group to use their mobile devices to scan the QR code and join the fun. (Also, make sure participants use their mobile devices to submit answers.) 
• Play and engage your audience!  

This template has fun, interactive features built in to keep your large audience engaged. Those features include polls, word clouds, and ratings. Just make sure you sign up for a paid plan to accommodate the large number of people in your group—the free account only works for up to ten players. 

14. Two Truths and a Lie 

This classic game is a fun, energizing way to help your listeners get to know one another. It's perfect for small in-person or virtual groups and is an ideal activity for the beginning of your presentation. 

Here's how to play: Pick any topic (for the purposes of this article, the topic will be "movies"). In no particular order, say two movies you've really watched and one you haven't watched. Ask your audience to guess which statement is the lie. The winner picks the next topic and says two truths and a lie. 

Be Memorable With Presentation Games

Oftentimes, people forget presentations within a week or even days, and that's because the discussions are boring. But you don't work hard preparing a presentation for it to be forgotten. If you want your message to stick, all you have to do is make it enjoyable without being corny.  

If you want to be remembered and actually get people engaged, you need to make your presentation fun and enjoyable, without coming off as corny or desperate to please. Ivan Dimitrijevic, 10 Secrets of Making Every Presentation Fun, Engaging, and Enjoyable

Luckily, the interactive presentation games in this article are unique and exciting—they're far from corny. So, use them for your upcoming presentations to make your messages compelling and memorable. 

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10 Latest Interactive Presentation Ideas to Enliven Work/Hangout Sessions | 2024 Edition

Lakshmi Puthanveedu • 31 July, 2024 • 11 min read

With remote and hybrid work cultures coming into the picture, interactive presentations and virtual meetings have become the need of the hour.

Remote meetings and presentations are crucial to ensure work continuity and better communication. But the question is, can you make them as effective, engaging and productive as possible?

The answer is a very simple YES! Keeping the audience engaged is critical whether you are having a live or virtual meeting. Here are ten interactive presentation ideas - the really engaging presentation ideas that you can use at your next meeting or hangout!

👉 Learn how to make a presentation interactive with AhaSlides.

Table of Contents

• Idea #1 Set some icebreaker questions
• Idea #2 Word of the Day
• Idea #3 Idea Box
• Idea #4 Deal the Cards
• Idea #5 What Would I Have Done
• Idea #6 Quizzes
• Idea #7 Use GIFs and Videos
• Idea #8 Two Truths and a Lie
• Idea #9 The Stick Game
• Idea #10 Trend a Hashtag

Frequently Asked Questions

More interactive presentation ideas w ahaslides.

• 11 Interactive presentation games to win easy engagement
• 10 Types of presentations and tips to ace them
• Interactive presentation
• How to make presentation interactive

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10 Interactive Presentation Ideas

With a little help from various interactive presentation software and activities, you can stand out from the other presenters and create a productive experience for your audience. So, what is an example of an interactive presentation? Let's dive into 10 interactive presentation ideas you could imagine and truly use to keep your audience excited and engaged throughout.

Kick Off the Presentation With an Ice Breaker

The first interactive presentation idea we want to show you is setting an icebreaker part. Why?

Whether you have a casual or formal presentation, starting with an icebreaker activity is always better to excite the crowd. Most often, people start the presentation straight away to save time and skip the warming-up stage. The end result? A static audience looking dreadful like it's Friday the 13th.

Here's the deal: build a rapport with your audience before you start the presentation, and you can do this by introducing a few activities👇

Idea #1 - Set some icebreaker questions

You may not always have the same group of people attending a meeting. Sometimes there might be members who are entirely new to the group. You could use this activity to help get to know each other better.

How to Play

Ask basic icebreaker questions to get to know the audience better and give them a time limit to answer. The questions can be open-ended , where the participants can answer freely with or without a word limit. This allows them to clearly express their thoughts, giving you an excellent opportunity to open up further discussions.

Create a Fun and Interactive Presentation With AhaSlides

There was a time when you had to sit for hours preparing and personalising presentation slides, but it doesn't have to be boring anymore. You can get a wide range of free interactive activities with AhaSlides! Sign up and create a free account today to try our online tool.

Idea #2 - Word of the Day

Sometimes, the meeting's main topic or agenda gets lost as the presentation gets long, boring and monotonous. One way to prevent this is by having the key phrase/topic throughout the presentation.

Learn the 13 golden openers to start a presentation .

The word or phrase is not revealed before the presentation. You could either divide the presentation into sections or focus on one specific topic at a time. You then ask the audience to write the word they think is the most crucial topic for the day. The words are then displayed as a live word cloud based on the popular responses, and the word with the most responses appears larger on the cloud.

This would give you, the presenter, an idea about how well the audience receives the content and help the audience understand which topic to focus on when you continue the presentation.

Let your audience direct

Nobody likes to sit through hours and hours of a single person talking about a topic, no matter how interesting it could be. Let the audience decide on the topic they want to learn or the presentation order. Best presentation ideas don't need to be linear! Here are some inspirational activities for you:

Idea #3 - Idea Box

People like to be asked for their opinions, and an Idea Box is a wonderful interactive presentation idea to grab your audience's attention and decide which is the best option to go forward with. Every presentation and meeting will have a Q&A at the end, and you might not be able to answer all the audience questions. This is where voting comes into the picture.

Once you are done with a specific topic in your presentation, you can ask the audience if they have any questions and collect them. When they have all shared their questions, they can upvote or downvote the available options, and you can select and answer the questions that have more votes.

These are different from polls because polls give them options to choose from, but you take their opinions into account when voting.

AhaSlides offers an Upvote feature to prioritise high-priority topics from head to toe and an anonymous feature for shy participants to voice out their opinions.

Idea #4 - Deal the Cards

It's normal for the presenter to have data and other information on the slides that could be complicated for the audience to understand. Once you finish presenting a specific topic, you could introduce a Q&A session .

In a normal presentation, only the presenter can control the slides. But suppose you are not presenting live, using an interactive presentation tool. In that case, you can let your audience go back and forth on the slides to check and clarify any information you've already presented.

You display a card (a normal slide) with specific data/numbers. Say, for example, a card with 75% on it. The audience can then go back to the slides, check what relates to the 75% and answer the question. Even if someone had missed out on an important topic, this would ensure they come across it.

Survey Your Audience

Hey, no! Don't be like that one teacher who constantly picks on the kids who aren't listening. The idea is to survey , to create an experience where everyone feels involved and make them feel that they are an important part of the presentation.

Idea #5 - What Would I Have Done Differently?

Asking them profound/fun/upbeat questions is a way to engage the audience in your talk. If you want the team to feel excited and involved, you need to provide them with an opportunity to express their opinions.

Give the audience a situation and ask them what they would have done differently if they were in that situation. AhaSlides offers an open-ended slide option where you can make the Q&A session a little more fun by allowing the audience to share their opinions as free text.

Another interactive presentation idea is to ask them if they've raised any pets/children and let them submit images in AhaSlides' open-ended slide. Talking about their favourite thing is a great way for the audience to open up.

Idea #6 - Quizzes

Need more interactive ideas for a presentation? Let's switch to quizzing time!

There's no argument that quizzes are one of the best ways to engage audience participation and make your presentation interactive. But how can you use those to your advantage during a live presentation without hunting for pen and paper?

Well, worry not! Creating fun and interactive quiz sessions is now easy and can be done in a few steps with AhaSlides.

• Step 1: Create your free AhaSlides account
• Step 2: Pick your desired template, or you can start with a blank one and use the AI slide generator to help create quiz questions
• Step 3: Fine-tune, test and present it in front of the live audience. Your participants can access the quiz easily via smartphones.

Lack of games in mind? Here are some interactive presentation games to get you started.

Bring in Humor as Your Ally

Even when it's interactive, sometimes the long presentations can drain the energy and excitement out of the presenter and the audience. Jokes and memes are other interactive presentation examples that you can use to lighten the mood and engage your audience.

Idea #7 - Use GIFs and Videos

The audience will remember the presentation and the topic better when you tie it up with pictures and GIFs. If you are looking for a perfect way to break the ice or lighten the mood during a presentation, this is one of the perfect ideas for interactive presentations.

ideas for interactive presentations

Show the participants a poll with a number of images or GIFs related to the question. Say, for example - Which Otter Describes Your Mood? The polls can have pictures or GIFs of funny otters, and the audience could pick their choice. Once everyone has chosen their option, the presenter can display the results on the screen.

Idea #8 - Two Truths and a Lie

If you want to make the audience think and entertain them at the same time, this is one of the best interactive presentation examples you can use. Interactive presentation ideas like Two Truths and a Lie can make your talk double fun and fascinating.

• Step 1: Give the audience a statement about the topic you are presenting
• Step 2: Give 3 options for them to choose from, including two true facts and a lie about the statement
• Step 3: Ask them to find the lie among the answers

Use Props in Your Presentation

Sometimes, giving the audience something to focus on other than the presentation helps. The idea is to engage them in a fun interactive presentation without taking away the topic's essence.

Idea #9 - The Stick Game

An interactive presentation example of this idea is the stick game, which is pretty simple. You give the audience a "talking stick". The person who has the stick with them can ask a question or share their opinion during the presentation.

This game is most suitable for when you are in a physical meeting setting. You might be using a digital presentation tool, but using a traditional prop method can be easy sometimes and different. You ask the audience to pass the talking stick around when they want to speak, and you could either address it right away or note it down for Q&A later.

🎊 Tips: Best Q&A Apps to Engage With Your Audience | 5+ Platforms For Free in 2024

Idea #10 - Trend a Hashtag

Creating a buzz about a specific topic can excite any crowd, and that is exactly what can be done with the help of social media.

Before the presentation, maybe even a couple of days back, the presenter can start a Twitter hashtag for the set topic and ask the teammates to join in and share their thoughts and questions. The entries are taken only until the day of the presentation, and you can even set a time limit.

Gather the entries from Twitter, and at the end of the presentation, you can pick and discuss a few of them like a generic discussion.

With our ideas for an interactive presentation above, hope you'll make your speech awesome that everyone will remember!

These interactive presentation ideas are all here for the same goal - for both the presenter and the audience to have a casual, confident and productive time. Bid goodbye to mundane, long static meetings and jump into the world of interactive presentations with AhaSlides. Sign up for free today to explore our template library.

Why are interactive presentation ideas important?

Interactive presentation ideas are important as they help to keep the audience engaged and interested throughout the presentation. Interactive elements can break up the monotony of a one-way presentation and provide opportunities for the audience to actively participate, which can enhance learning and retention.

Why are interactive presentations beneficial to students?

Interactive presentation ideas for students are valuable ways to enhance their learning experience. They can promote active learning, personalised instruction, and collaboration, all of which can contribute to improved academic performance and student success.

What are the benefits of interactive presentation in the workplace?

Interactive presentations are effective tools for communication, promoting engagement, learning, decision-making, and motivation in the workplace. By utilising this technique, organisations can foster a culture of continuous learning and development, leading to improved employee performance and business success.

Lakshmi Puthanveedu

A small-town girl enthralled by culture, languages, and sunsets. Casual artist and musician looking to make memories every step of the way. Now changing the way humans live and have virtual interactions with AhaSlides.

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Home Blog Presentation Ideas How To Make a Presentation Interactive

How To Make a Presentation Interactive

This article provides a short list of proven techniques for adding interactivity to your presentations. Based on our experience and available research, we know applying them will enhance your presentation experience.

Table of Contents

Definition of Interactive Presentation

Benefits of interactive presentation, interactive presentation techniques, recommended templates for interactive presentations.

An interactive presentation actively engages the audience, transforming them from passive listeners into active participants. It incorporates various elements that invite audience interaction, encourage learning and discussion.

• Interactive presentations generate connection, bringing audiences and presenters closer. 
• They enhance comprehension, simplifying complex concepts. 
• They boost engagement, keeping audiences active and interested. 
• They encourage cooperation, promoting collaborative learning and problem-solving.

The following list is a suggestion of audience interaction techniques that, in our experience, helped presenters make their presentations interactive. They all present an actionable example that can be easily implemented in your next PowerPoint presentation .

Use of Icebreakers

In recent years, researchers have theorized that Icebreakers help establish a conducive communication environment, favoring participation. Effective icebreakers can range from simple questions to fun activities to break down barriers and encourage interaction. The key is to choose an icebreaker that aligns with the audience and the topic of the presentation.

Icebreaker examples

We present two examples of the same technique based on the context of the presentation delivery method.

Scenario 1 – Physical Audience (in the Context of a Summit)

In summits, the audience is gathered for a shared interest. So, the hypothesis is that the people in the room, ready to listen to the presentation, have some interests in common. The presenter can break the ice with a simple “know the people around you.” Each participant should present themselves to the person at the right and the left and ask them the purpose of their assistance.

The presenter will then share the 3 “possible answers,” introducing how the presentation will cover those interests. If time is well measured, it can even do a “rise the hands” round to roughly estimate the answers.

This technique requires good control of the room, so it is important to constantly gauge the possible distraction generated vs the communication effect that wants to be reached. We suggest our subscribers present quickly, clear the icebreaker exercise, and invest time in the wrap-up (post-exercise) activity.

Scenario 2 – Virtual Audience (in the context of a course)

During virtual presentations (like in Google Meet or Zoom ), the interaction between participants requires separate meeting rooms or moderated chat, which incurs complexity and additional effort. So, our experience in virtual presentations shows that a single round of attendee introductions is a good icebreaker for the audience-presenter pair. 

The main task the presenter needs to prepare is to define beforehand the number of people that will introduce themselves and the 3 questions they should answer about them.

For example:

• What’s your name? (or any demographic that might fit the audience)
• What do you expect from the presentation?
• Do you have a specific question or topic you would like the presenter to address?

This technique of micro-interactions increases the audience’s affinity with its remote peers and triggers curiosity. For the presenter, it sets a standard of expectations to focus on during the speech. [3]

Incorporation of Multimedia Elements & Other Interactive Presentation Ideas

According to audience studies , incorporating multimedia elements into presentations significantly enhances audience engagement . This technique uses videos, reels, TikTok, audio clips, animations, memes, and images to convey information more effectively. These elements can simplify complex concepts, stimulate discussion, and maintain audience interest. They also cater to different learning styles, ensuring a more comprehensive understanding of the presented material.

Use of Non-linear Flow

Non-linear flow in interactive presentations allows for a flexible, audience-driven progression. It consists of allowing the listener to decide the path of the presentation. This technique enhances engagement by adapting to audience responses. Two studies ([1],[2]) conclude that the use of a non-linear presentation reinforces learning and improves understanding of concepts and results.

Storytelling Approach

The storytelling approach involves weaving a narrative around your topic, connecting facts and figures with characters and plots. This method engages the audience emotionally, stimulating their imagination, making it more relatable and memorable, and enhancing their understanding of the subject matter. The interaction materializes between the message and the emotions of the receiver. 

Do not misunderstand the usage of storytelling presentations as merely fictional creative plots. The presenter needs to create a story that delivers the message and also, is backed up with arguments or data.

Storytelling Example

For instance, imagine a mid-manager working on customer trends and behavior analysis in a retail company. In the previous quarter, numbers show a decrease in the sales of brewed coffee. The trends and survey analysis show that consumers prefer to brew at home.

So, instead of just showcasing numbers, the presenter elaborates on a customer persona (“Emily”) and creates a story about Emily’s regular day and decision-making process.

“Emily is a hard-working mom of 2 boys. She has a white-collar job, 9 to 5, in a big city. She is a conscious mom about their children’s nutrition and makes her grocery every morning in our stores. She values our quality and freshness. As part of her daily routine, she picks a fresh coffee from our store barista and quickly covers her shopping list., ready to deliver the goods at home and run to her job.

Her morning routine has recently been affected since Emily’s budget has seen an increase in groceries, and a detailed analysis of cost benefits has replaced the almost automatic process of selecting top-of-the-line healthy products. Prices have seen alterations due to inflation and have hit the shelves. Emily’s routine has changed so that she does not even take her “to go coffee”; she decided to brew at home.”

This story is more relatable and can trigger the audience’s experience about the topic. This is no bidirectional communication but generates an internal action in the audience.

Use of Q&A and Discussion Sessions

Question and Answer (Q&A) sessions and discussions complement interactive presentations. They provide a platform for the audience to drill down into concepts and exchange ideas. This methodology promotes dynamic involvement, inviting passive spectators to become active participants. Moreover, the presenter can extract invaluable insights from these sessions, transforming the presentation into a reciprocal learning experience. For further reading and techniques of Q&A sessions, please check our post on how to moderate questions and answers .

Quizzes and Polls

In interactive presentations, quizzes and polls are frequently employed to receive input from the audience at scale. Using technology, you can get quick answers to a grid of questions predefined or even built during the presentation itself. The audience input is received and quickly processed to share in a summary. Results can then be discussed during the presentation. 

Quizzes and Polls Examples

As technology for this technique, we suggest using Microsoft Forms or Google Forms. Booths are proven technologies that can be accessed from almost every network and guarantee you will not fail during your presentation. This tool reduces the risk of having a glitch failure.

If you have an Office 365 subscription, you can use Microsoft Forms, which integrates with PowerPoint to show the results of a poll or quiz.

If you use Google Forms, even though you do not have direct interaction, you can use the web viewer add-in of PowerPoint and, after some time, edit the presentation, refresh the preview, and show the examples.

Here is a list of interactive presentation ideas & templates that you can use in PowerPoint or Google Slides.

1. Interactive Jeopardy Game Template for PowerPoint & Google Slides

Welcome to Jeopardy! If you intend to make a memorable presentation and evaluate your attendees’ knowledge of the topics you disclose, this is the ideal resource to make a presentation interactive.

Use This Template

2. Quiz Maker for Interactive Presentations Template

When looking for how to make presentations interactive, this slide deck with a quiz theme can bring light to training sessions or even inspirational presentations. Easy to edit, you can build expectation with multiple-choice format, or work with true/false statements.

3. Six Thinking Hats PowerPoint Template for Interactive Presentations

Induce interactive activities for presentations by implementing this creative thinking template featuring the Six Thinking Hats model. It is ideal for teams to discuss a problem from different points of view.

4. Futuristic Concept Roadmap for Interactive Presentation Ideas

When looking for how to create an interactive PowerPoint presentation, this roadmap template stands out by its highly detailed graphic aesthetic, which makes facts easier to remember. Participants can add their insights to collectively build a roadmap for the organization, highlighting 3 key milestones.

We presented several methods to make your presentation interactive. You can navigate our presentations gallery and choose professional PowerPoint templates to apply these new techniques.

• Das, Anup & Dutta, Bidyarthi. (2002). Presentation of Results of Research: Linear and Non-Linear Forms.
• Rumpa, Lantana & Sampelawang, Petrus & Lolang, Enos & Tangkeallo, Daud & Rubianus,. (2018). NON-LINEAR PRESENTATION ON STUDENT PERFORMANCE: APPLYING PREZI ON ENGINEERING EDUCATION.
• In-person vs. virtual conferences: Lessons learned and how to take advantage of the best of both worlds

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How to create an interactive presentation: Get started in Genially.

EXPERT TIPS

How to present data without sending your audience to sleep.

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No-code animation: Bring your slides to life with cinematic visual effects.

PRESENTATION IDEAS

The art of digital storytelling: Engage and thrill on screen.

Genially in a nutshell

How do I make a presentation interactive and how does Genially work? Find the answers to all of your slide-related questions here!

What’s an interactive presentation?

Interactive slides contain clickable hotspots, links, buttons, and animations that are activated at the touch of a button. Instead of reading or watching passively, your audience can actively interact with the content.  

Genially’s interaction presentation software allows you to combine text, photos, video clips, audio and other content in one deck. It’s a great way to condense more information into fewer slides. 

If you’re a teacher, you can share multiple materials in one single learning resource. Students can create their own projects using digital media and online maps. For business or training, try embedding spreadsheet data, PDFs, and online content directly in your slides. 

An interactive slide deck is more user-friendly than a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation or Google Slides document. That’s because you can break information down into chunks with pop-ups, labels, voiceovers and annotated infographics.  

The other benefit of interactive content is increased engagement. It’s easier to keep your audience’s attention when they’re actively participating. Try Genially’s presentation software and free slideshow maker to see how it’s better than other presentation websites. You won’t go back to standard presentation apps!

How do you make a clickable slide?

The best way to make slides clickable is to use Genially’s free interactive presentation program. Design your slide then apply an interaction. In a couple of clicks, you can add popup windows, hyperlinks, close-up images, games, animations, multimedia and other content. 

Choose from the library of hotspot buttons and icons to show people what to click on. Go to Presenter View to get a preview and see how your content will appear to your audience.

How do I create presentations that look professional?

You’ve got a deadline looming and you’re staring at the screen with a blank presentation. We’ve all been there! Starting a presentation design from scratch is tricky, especially if you’re short on time. 

Genially’s free online presentation maker has over 2000 ready-to-use templates for professional slide presentations, photos slideshows, and more. Each slide design has been created by our team of top graphic designers. No need to worry about fonts, centering images, or designing a matching color scheme. It’s all done for you. 

Start by browsing our layouts and themes for education, business and then customize with your own text and images.

How do I share or download my slides?

Because Genially is a cloud based presentation software, you can simply share the link to your slides. Like other online presentation tools, there are no files to download or store on your computer. Everything is saved online.  

When you publish your slide deck, it gets its own unique url, just like a website. Share the link with others to let them explore the content in their own time. If you’re presenting live, just click the Present button. 

You can also embed your presentation on your website, company wiki, or social media. Genially is compatible with WordPress, Moodle, Google Classroom, and other platforms. If you use an LMS, you can also download your interactive design slides in SCORM format.

For slideshow videos and slideshows with music, share online or download as an MP4 video. Check out our free slideshow templates for ideas.

Can I make a free presentation in Genially?

You bet! Genially is an easy-to-use slide maker, with a free version and paid plans. The free plan allows you to create unlimited slides with interactions and animations. Subscribe to one of our paid plans for more advanced features.

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Join the 25 million people designing incredible interactive experiences with Genially.

9 Interactive Presentation Ideas To Engage Your Audience

• By Judhajit Sen
• April 15, 2024

Key Takeaways

– Interactive Engagement: Transform traditional presentations into dynamic exchanges by encouraging active participation from presenters and audiences. Foster a lively atmosphere akin to friendly chats or engaging games where questions, feedback, and thoughts flow freely.

Diverse Interactive Tools: To enhance engagement and comprehension, utilize a variety of interactive features, such as clickable buttons, polls, quizzes, discussions, multimedia elements, animations, transitions, and role-playing scenarios.

– Enhanced Learning Experience: Engaging and interactive presentations increase engagement, personal connections, and hands-on learning. They foster analytical thinking, problem-solving skills, and agility, making them particularly effective for training and skill development.

– Memorable and Effective Communication: Engaging presentations go beyond information sharing; they give the audience memorable and compelling experiences. Presenters leave a lasting impression and enhance content retention by incorporating storytelling, gamification, and immersive role-playing scenarios.

An interactive PowerPoint presentation is an engaging communication format in which both the presenter and the audience actively participate. Unlike traditional slide formats that may sometimes lead to boring presentations, it’s a fun and interactive exchange in which questions, feedback, and thoughts flow freely.

Picture it as a friendly chat or a fun game involving everyone. You ask questions, gather live feedback, and get your audience to contribute. Utilizing clickable buttons, polls, quizzes, discussions, and multimedia elements, you transform static slides into an interactive experience.

Irrespective of whether you are making an in-person or online presentation, audience participation boosts retention. Interactive presentations foster increased engagement and personal connections. They employ charts, surveys, navigation, transitions, hyperlinks, and hotspots to enrich the experience.

A good presentation induces the audience to interact by incorporating quizzes and polls, ensuring engagement. It transcends traditional formats, leaving a lasting impression and enhancing content retention. An interactive presentation isn’t just about sharing information; it’s about creating a memorable and practical experience for both the presenter and audience alike.

The following are nine ideas to creating interactive presentations that will boost engagement.

Icebreakers

Kick off your presentation with engaging icebreakers to connect with your audience and set an interactive tone instantly. Start with thought-provoking questions or a fun game to ignite curiosity and encourage participation.

Encourage interaction among audience members to foster understanding and camaraderie. Icebreakers help break the ice, especially in larger groups where participants may be strangers. Use interactive activities like the Favorites Icebreaker or asking for one-word associations with the presentation topic.

Building rapport is critical. In small settings, have everyone share a bit about themselves. In larger audiences, encourage introductions among neighbors. Use fun icebreaker games or ask questions aloud to increase engagement.

Incorporate assessments like quizzes using third-party platforms to entertain and reinforce critical concepts. For instance, quiz the audience on online threats in a cybersecurity presentation. Strategically place these quizzes to maintain engagement.

To encourage participation, integrate fun games like Two Truths and a Lie or Speed Networking. These activities make participants comfortable and promote interaction, enhancing the entire presentation experience.

To make a presentation interactive, integrate live polls into your presentation using audience response systems or polling apps. This real-time feedback tool encourages active participation and creates an interactive atmosphere. Whether asking simple questions or seeking opinions, polls engage attendees and make presentations collaborative.

Audience interaction technology like live polling empowers speakers to gather insights and engage attendees. Prepare topics with questions, follow up with polling results, and adjust the presentation accordingly.

Engage your listeners further by incorporating polls relevant to the presentation topic. Use multiple-choice options or ask for raised hands. With polling software, attendees can input answers via smartphones, adding an element of fun and interactivity.

Encourage participation by including live polls and surveys in your presentation. Online platforms facilitate this interaction, allowing for feedback and transparent conversations. Displaying poll results sparks discussions and keeps the audience engaged.

Enhance audience engagement and test knowledge by adding quizzes and polls. From interactive scenario quizzes to open-ended polls, there are various options. Using online tools, embed quizzes and polls seamlessly into your presentation, making it easy to create interactive presentation content.

Encourage audience questions throughout your presentation to foster a dynamic and interactive atmosphere. Address inquiries in real time to show value for audience input and promote two-way communication.

Integrate audience questions throughout your entire presentation to gauge understanding and break up content. Prepare questions beforehand or allow spontaneity during the session.

Utilize the Ask Me Anything (AMA) format, popularized by forums like Reddit, to offer fluid interaction and align content with audience expectations. Moderation may filter questions or allow for spontaneity, enhancing engagement.

Incorporate audience questions into your presentation slides to prompt discussion and gather feedback. Use simple, non-intimidating questions to engage listeners without pressure.

Include discussion questions to encourage group interaction and create an engaging environment. For interactive seminars, break attendees into small groups or encourage neighborly discussion.

Encourage audience questions at multiple points during the presentation. Signal opportunities for questions and create a comfortable environment for participation.

Host an interactive Q&A session at the end of your presentation to invite audience input and clarify complex topics. Tailor discussions to audience interests and promote collaboration.

Real-time Q&A sessions foster engagement and provide immediate responses, creating a welcoming atmosphere for participants.

Q&A sessions, whether in-person or virtual, allow audiences to lead discussions and explore relevant topics. They also provide opportunities for spontaneous questions or pre-collected inquiries to enhance interaction and learning.

Storytelling

Share personal anecdotes or stories about your topic to engage your listeners emotionally. Storytelling makes your presentation relatable and memorable, drawing listeners into the narrative and keeping them engaged.

Start your presentation with a captivating anecdote to grab viewers’ attention and maintain interest throughout. Stories create suspense, evoke emotions, and bring topics to life.

Incorporating storytelling as a part of your presentation is an interactive way to convey information. Even data-heavy topics can benefit from storytelling, adding depth and humanity to your speech. By immersing your audience in a narrative, you make them feel involved and connected, enhancing their overall experience and retention of the material.

Craft a compelling narrative that your audience can relate to. This will strengthen your message and aid in information retention. Storytelling facilitates a deeper understanding and connection with your content, making your presentation more impactful and memorable in the long run.

Clickable Buttons

Enhance your slides with clickable buttons, allowing your audience to navigate your presentation or access external resources easily. These buttons can link to specific sections or outside materials, like your social media profiles or extra readings, making your education presentation more informative and engaging. By giving your audience the freedom to explore topics of interest, you create a personalized experience, increasing engagement with your interactive slideshow.

Navigate your audience smoothly through your presentation by incorporating interactive buttons for easy navigation, extra content, or calls to action. Instead of bombarding your audience with too much information, focus on key points and include clickable buttons to guide them to more detailed sections or external pages. This approach helps prevent audience fatigue while ensuring they have access to relevant information when they need it.

Data Visualization

Incorporate interactive charts and graphs into your presentation to boost engagement. Allow users to interact with the data by clicking on points for detailed information or to toggle between data series. These interactive visuals aid understanding and keep viewers engaged with your content.

Graphs and charts are vital in data-driven presentations. They simplify complex information into digestible visuals, help visualize key data, illustrate trends, and facilitate decision-making processes.

To prevent overwhelming your audience with data, utilize engaging infographics, charts, and dashboards that update in real time. Transforming complex information into visual formats enhances comprehension and retention.

Interactive data visualization is essential for effectively communicating information, whether you’re a data expert, business leader, or educator. It enables dynamic presentation of statistics and figures, making content more accessible and memorable.

Convert your data into visual representations to maximize its impact. Charts and graphs make it easier to process information and aid in faster comprehension and retention. Visualized data resonates with audiences and enhances overall presentation effectiveness.

Animations and Transitions

Elevate your presentation with animated infographics, adding a dynamic touch to your content. Animated elements reveal information gradually, capturing the audience’s attention and transforming complex data into easily digestible formats. Smooth slide transitions maintain flow and interest, ensuring a seamless transition between slides.

Animations and transitions enrich your multimedia presentation, enhancing engagement and emphasizing key points. Interactive text and pop-up elements keep audiences engaged, while progressive information revelation builds anticipation and understanding.

Animated icons and interactive elements contribute to effective storytelling, infusing personality into your brand and modernizing information delivery. These elements play a crucial role in organizing content innovatively and enhancing communication effectiveness.

Experiment with various animation styles to keep presentations lively and interactive. However, maintain consistency to avoid overwhelming your audience. Stick to a cohesive animation style throughout the presentation to prevent confusion and ensure a polished delivery.

Carefully select transitions to maintain audience engagement without going overboard. Find a style that complements your content and stick with it consistently. Avoid using too many different transitions to prevent distractions and maintain coherence in your presentation.

Gamification

Inject excitement into your presentations by incorporating interactive quizzes, puzzles, or challenges. Gamification adds an element of enjoyment and competition, encouraging active participation and enhancing learning.

If your presentations are for education or training, consider integrating gamification elements. This powerful tool not only entertains but also improves knowledge retention.

Depending on your presentation goals and software capabilities, you can utilize a variety of interactive games. From quizzes to puzzles, there are options to suit every audience and topic.

Audience engagement is vital for maintaining interest. With tools like live polling, speakers can involve attendees throughout the presentation, gathering insights and adjusting content accordingly. Gamification boosts productivity, challenges expectations, and taps into the human desire for competition.

Interactive presentation games transform passive listeners into active contributors, revitalizing meetings and promoting skill development. By fostering teamwork and quick thinking, these games enhance learning and problem-solving abilities among participants.

Role-playing

Involve your audience in role-playing scenarios to encourage active participation and deeper understanding. Role-playing enables individuals to step into different roles and explore diverse perspectives, connecting the content to real-world situations.

Scenario-based learning offers practical opportunities for audiences to apply newly acquired skills. Participants can engage in decision-making and problem-solving exercises tailored to their roles and responsibilities by simulating realistic challenges and workplace scenarios.

This hands-on approach fosters critical thinking and skill development, making it especially effective for training presentations. Whether teaching customer service techniques or conflict resolution strategies, role-play scenarios breathe life into the material and enhance learning.

Immersive role-play presentations serve as valuable tools for compliance training. By presenting employees with realistic scenarios, organizations can demonstrate how to navigate ethical dilemmas and handle sensitive situations while adhering to compliance protocols. These simulations provide a safe environment for learning and decision-making, preparing employees to apply their knowledge effectively in real-world situations.

Engage Your Audience: Interactive Presentation Ideas

Interactive presentations revolutionize traditional communication by fostering active engagement between presenters and audiences. Unlike passive formats, these sessions resemble lively conversations or engaging games where participation is encouraged and valued.

With various interactive tools, such as clickable buttons, data visualization, and animations, presentations become immersive experiences. Participants navigate content, explore data, and absorb information at their own pace, enhancing comprehension and retention.

Icebreakers set the tone, while polling and Q&A sessions maintain audience involvement. Incorporating storytelling and gamification adds depth and excitement, making presentations memorable and impactful.

Role-playing takes engagement to another level by immersing participants in realistic scenarios, fostering critical thinking and skill development.

Interactive presentations transcend mere information dissemination. They create dynamic exchanges, spark curiosity, and leave lasting impressions. By embracing interactive strategies , presenters empower audiences, turning passive spectators into active participants in the learning journey.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is an interactive presentation?

An interactive presentation is a dynamic form of communication in which both the presenter and audience actively participate. Unlike traditional presentations, it’s more like a lively conversation or engaging game in which questions, feedback, and thoughts flow freely.

2. How do interactive presentations engage the audience?

Interactive presentations engage the audience through tools like clickable buttons, data visualization, animations, and role-playing scenarios. These elements encourage participation, enhance comprehension, and make the learning experience more memorable.

3. What are some examples of interactive presentation tools?

Some examples of interactive presentation tools include clickable buttons for navigation, live polling for real-time feedback, animations for visual engagement, and role-playing scenarios for practical application of knowledge.

4. How can interactive presentations benefit different types of presentations?

Interactive presentations benefit various presentations, including educational, training, business, and informational sessions. They promote active learning, increase engagement, and improve information retention by creating a dynamic and immersive experience for both presenters and audiences.

Transform Your Presentations with Prezentium: Creating Engaging Interactive Experiences

Incorporate interactive elements like clickable buttons, dynamic data visualization, and captivating animations to revolutionize your presentations. Using Prezentium ‘s AI-powered presentation software, we will craft immersive experiences that captivate your audience and drive engagement.

1. Overnight Presentations: Email us your requirements by 5:30 pm PST, and wake up to a finished presentation by 9:30 am PST the following business day. Using our AI-driven best interactive presentation software, we will ensure that your content shines bright and keeps your audience hooked.

2. Presentation Specialist: Our team of specialists will transform your ideas and meeting notes into interactive presentations. We’ll refine your content and craft new designs and templates to elevate your message.

3. Zenith Learning: Dive into our interactive communication workshops and training programs that blend structured problem-solving with visual storytelling. From role-playing scenarios to immersive learning experiences, we’ll equip you with the skills to engage and inspire your audience.

Experience the power of stellar presentations developed using our AI-enabled interactive presentation software. Elevate your presentation game, engage your audience, and leave a lasting impression. Let’s create memorable experiences together.

Why wait? Avail a complimentary 1-on-1 session with our presentation expert. See how other enterprise leaders are creating impactful presentations with us.

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105+ Creative Presentation Ideas to Engage Your Audience

Written by: Orana Velarde

With most people tuning out of a PowerPoint presentation within the first 10 minutes , developing engaging slide show presentation ideas that keep your audience hooked till the end can be a challenge.

This is why we've created this post with 105+ creative presentation ideas to help you put together exciting presentations that don't put your audience to sleep. You can use these presentation ideas for business meetings, webinars, classrooms, online courses, pitch decks and more.

Here are some of the ideas we’re covering:

• Use neon colors and duotones
• Unify transitions horizontally
• Use a monochrome palette
• Tell a personal story
• Use isometric illustrations

In this article, you'll find unique slide examples, templates, designs and more. Put these slide show presentation ideas to practice using our presentation maker and create your own presentation in minutes.

Here's a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit Presentation templates you can edit, share and download with Visme. View more below:

• Add bright and bold colors to make your presentation stand out and grab your audience's attention. Create a vibrant and dynamic look by using neon colors and duotones.
• Instead of using different transitions for each slide, use the same transition horizontally throughout your presentation. This creates a cohesive and visually pleasing flow.
• To create a sophisticated, minimalist look, limit your color choices to shades of a single color.
• Connect with your audience and make your message more relatable by incorporating personal anecdotes or stories into your presentation.
• Add depth and dimension to your presentation with isometric illustrations, which can be a fun and engaging way to present complex information.
• Sign up for Visme’s presentation software to start applying these creative presentation ideas.

105+ Creative Presentation Ideas

The ideas we've shared cut across various design concepts, industries and use cases. We've also sprinkled presentation design ideas from Visme's template library.  If you're running out of creative steam, you can use these templates to jumpstart your designs.

And if you're running out of time, consider using Visme's AI presentation maker to bring these 100 creative presentation ideas to life. It's a user-friendly tool that effortlessly transforms your ideas into visually stunning presentations.

Now, let's jump into the creative presentation design ideas.

1 Use Neon Colors

Neon colors will give your presentation enough color kick to keep the viewer’s attention. Use neon colors either as the background, as specific elements or as details inside the slides. The trick with neon is to not go overboard with the contrasts. Instead of using a neon rainbow, think more along the lines of neon accents.

2 Be Minimal

Using a minimal design composition is one of the unique presentation ideas. The trick is to have just enough information and visual details for the viewer to feel comfortable seeing the slides. A minimal design can instill calm and awe in your audience when done right. The trick with minimalism is to know when enough is enough, you wouldn’t want to be boring instead of minimal.

RELATED:  20+ Examples of Minimalist Design to Inspire Your Own Creations

3 Use all caps

Another creative presentation idea is using all caps when you feel like the topic of your presentation can be delivered with few words. Using all capitals in your slides will give the message importance. This design might not be suited for a text-heavy presentation but maybe one with an audio narrative that goes along with it or bullet points.

Also, this kind of presentation design is suitable for captivating introduction slide ideas.

Image Source

4 Go vertical

Rectangular presentations are definitely the norm, but with the rise of Instagram Stories, this might be starting to change. This shift introduces a unique opportunity for those looking for ideas for presentation styles that stand out. Now that we can put archived stories into Highlights, why not publish vertical presentations there? Going vertical is just one idea. Along with that, you can add any other design technique.

5  Use duotones

Duotone doesn’t exactly mean “two colors,” it actually means “two tones.” The idea behind this design angle is to use two contrasting tonalities which can have different shades. The difference between duotone and two colors is that it has a more edgy look. Depending on what two tonalities you choose, it can be subtle or very powerful. The photos used in the design also need to be customized to the duotone color you chose.

6 Add a video in different shapes or snippets

Videos can be a powerful tool in your arsenal for engaging your audience during a presentation. Not only do they help to break up the monotony of a lecture-style presentation, but they can also help to explain complex concepts, add visual interest, and evoke emotions.

One way to make your videos stand out is by using different shapes or snippets. Rather than presenting a standard rectangular video, consider incorporating shapes such as circles, triangles or diamonds. These shapes can add a unique and visually appealing element to your presentation.

Another way to incorporate video snippets is by breaking up a longer video into smaller, bite-sized pieces. This can be particularly useful if you have a lengthy video that you want to show but don't want to lose your audience's attention. By breaking it up into smaller segments, you can keep your audience engaged and prevent them from losing interest.

Don’t worry about the design complexity. If you create your presentation in Visme, you can resize your videos instantly and turn them into any shape you want.

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• Produce beautiful, effective marketing content quickly even without an extensive design skillset
• Inspire your sales team to create their own content with branded templates for easy customization

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7  Unify transitions horizontally

Unifying the transitions between slides is always a great idea, but doing it horizontally is especially effective. By keeping all the movements going in one direction, it's both easy to follow and will look great. You don’t need to just apply horizontal transitions to the switch between slides, you can also apply animation to the titles and images. As long as they all go in the same direction, you are gold.

Create a slide deck like this in minutes.

• Search for the exact slides you need from a library of 900+ layouts
• Choose a classic or modern style
• Create automatically animated presentations

8  Black and white + spot of bright color

This presentation design idea is highly effective if you're looking for a creative way to present information.

Adding a bright color to a black and white scheme can add just the right amount of attention-grabbing detail to your presentation. Try choosing a powerful color so that it’s really noticeable and pops visually. You can use the color in small amounts or in large sections. Up to you, just remember to maintain a balance throughout.

9 Use a color theme

A cohesive color theme throughout your presentation can engage your audience and create a more visually appealing experience.

To start, consider the overall tone of your presentation and what emotions you want to evoke in your audience. Are you presenting on a serious topic, such as healthcare or finance, where a more subdued color palette may be appropriate?

Or are you presenting on a more lighthearted topic, such as creativity or innovation, where bright and bold colors can help to capture your audience's attention?

Once you have a general idea of your color palette, try to use it consistently throughout your slides. This means using the same background, font and accent colors for headings and graphics– like the presentation template below.

Visme's presentation templates offer a wide range of professionally designed themes with 300+ slides in 20+ different categories, making it the best choice for exploring creative presentation ideas without PowerPoint. You can create visually stunning slides with our carefully curated color schemes and stylish designs.

Read this article about 25 free presentation themes in Visme and find the perfect one.

Visme's presentation maker and branded presentation templates have been helping businesses create impactful presentations while saving them time and money. That's why many businesses choose Visme over other tools.

But don't just take it for word. Here's what one of our satisfied customers has to say about Visme.

"Previously we were using PowerPoint, which is fine, but the interactivity you can get with Visme is so much more robust that we've all steered away from PowerPoint."

"PowerPoint templates are plain and boring, and we want to create more fun and engaging content. Visme has multiple slide templates to choose from, which makes this so much easier."

"I just made a deck recently and it took me about 15-20 minutes. I found a template I really liked and tweaked it and put it in our brand colors. In PowerPoint, it would take anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half."

- Kendra Bradley, Graphic Content Developer at WOW!

10  Add full-screen videos

The use of full-screen video in your slides can have a big impact on your storytelling. There’s a catch though. The wrong video will be detrimental to your message, be mindful of the videos you chose to grace the background of your slides. The video should either tell your story without words or be a complement that won’t interfere. The wrong video will confuse your viewers and it will be hard to get their undivided attention back.

If you’re looking for quick idea inspiration, check out our YouTube video where Mike shares 30 of our favorite presentation ideas at a glance.

11  Use an 80’s visual style

If looking for a unique design style, why not try an 80’s style for a change. Neon graffiti writing, disco balls, and brightly colored shapes might go well with your presentation’s topic. You can use 80’s visuals as small complementary elements or as the entirety of the presentation style. Nevertheless, if your presentation is about something quite serious then maybe you should try another style.

All you have to do is provide a text prompt, choose your preferred template style and the tool will generate text, images and icons and prepare a ready-to-use presentation within seconds. 

The flexibility to customize these presentations in the Visme editor adds the perfect finishing touches to your visual storytelling journey.

12  Go vintage

Another creative presentation idea is the vintage look. This could work really well with a history-themed presentation or anything to do with recuperating old traditions. When we say “vintage” we mean sepia-toned photos, intricate picture frames, bold fonts which look like they came out of old posters.

A vintage color palette is usually pastel turquoise green, ochre yellow and washed out blue and orange. You could consider using vintage mockup sets to create scenes for your slides, or use vintage style fonts, and old photographs as backgrounds.

13  Use a monochrome palette

A monochrome palette is one that maintains a single tonality in different strengths. For example, you can create a presentation in shades of blue, or in shades of orange. Use the palest shade for the background and a stronger shade for the titles and decorative shapes. Try doing it the opposite way as well. You can even use photos with a bit of a filter effect in the chosen color by adding a color filter.

14  Tell a personal story

Telling stories from your own life—whether those stories are deeply moving, humorous tales, or just little snippets that allow someone to look into your history—can be a great way to make a presentation more meaningful.

Colin Stokes uses this to his advantage in his TED talk. He begins by talking about the movies he watches with his daughter and what she likes, and then moving into watching a movie with his son, and wondering how it has affected him, allowing him to move seamlessly into his actual points.

Watch the video below to learn how Colin Stokes did it

Choose a relevant story from your past, and tell it with all the honesty that you can. Your audience will feel that, sympathize, and therefore connect more with your message.

15  Creative photo crops

The photos in your presentations can be cropped hundreds of different ways. From simple circles or rectangles to more elaborate triangles, polygons, letter shapes or even a brushstroke. Analyze the message of your presentation to know which shape to use for the cropping of your photos. You can also create a collage with the shapes as long as they don’t distract from the information being presented.

16 Add fun illustrations

Adding fun illustrations is a great idea to engage your audience during a presentation. They can help break up text-heavy slides, make your presentation more visually attractive and reinforce your message, making it one of the best fun presentation ideas.

Hand-drawn doodles, icons and graphics and animated GIFs are all illustrations you can use. To maximize the visual impact of your illustrations, you can use them in 3D.

With Visme, you can enhance your presentation by adding 3D objects that allow you to customize their colors, size and alignment. Additionally, you can add 3D animated graphics to take things to the next level.

When using illustrations, it's important to remember to use them sparingly to avoid overwhelming your audience. Less is more when it comes to adding graphics to your slides. Remember to match the illustrations with your theme and color scheme to keep things consistent.

17  Thick and bold fonts

Huge chunky fonts are a great way to call attention to titles on slides. You could even try making the letters bleed over the edges or place the words vertical along the side. The best thick and bold fonts are the ones with minimal decorations. Try using fonts that have strong corners or the opposite, extreme rounded terminals. It will also work best if the title is short and sweet.

18 Go with nature

Freshen up your presentation with some natural elements around the edges or as a background. You could use full-screen background photos of leaves or palm fronds coming in from the sides of the slides.

Another presentation idea would be to use nature-related photography along with other design ideas like interesting photo crops. This technique could be used for presentations that relate to nature or natural topics, but also for a home decor proposal or creative direction pitch for a TV ad.

Integrating nature into your slides is a beautiful presentation example of how to connect with your audience on a different level. This technique could be used for presentations about environmental topics or even about home decoration.

19 Use circles

Circles represent wholeness and a natural sense of completion. They can signify eternity and constant movement. They can also make your presentation more friendly and emotionally accessible. You can try using circles as decorative elements or as the shape for cropping images and as backgrounds for illustrations.

20 Add some sparkle (glitter backgrounds)

Give your presentations a little bit of a festive feel with some glittery details. This PowerPoint idea can work great if you are presenting a creative proposal for a fashion label or clothing catalog. It can even work really well for holiday-themed pitches or products. There are different types of glittery graphics you can use, like a glitter texture, a glittering rain or even just a dash of glitter. You can find some great glitter backgrounds and textures over at Freepik .

21 Get crafty (ripped paper details)

Sometimes to tell a story, visual details can really help get a mood across. Ripped paper shapes and edges can give a presentation a special feel, almost as if it was done by hand. This visual technique works for any type of presentation except maybe in a corporate setting. Ripped paper can be found on creative graphics resource sites or you can do it yourself and take a photo.

22 Cut-out paper illustrations

Another crafty idea to design your slides is by using cut paper illustrations. This technique could look really crafty or quite elegant if done well. Cut paper can be used as an elaborate background, as the letters in titles or as decorative elements. There are some great cut paper bundles online to use as PNG files which can be uploaded to the Visme editor.

23  Pathway transitions

Create interesting transitions by designing scenes or pathways instead of just sliding them in one unified direction. By doing this, you can use a storytelling technique that will keep the audience’s attention throughout the presentation and information relay. You can find out how to do it in our free guide to creating captivating presentations .

Create an automatically animated presentation in minutes.

24  use isometric illustrations.

If you are looking for a different way to illustrate your slides, why not consider using isometric illustrations? This style of illustration is great for explaining things that can be separated into parts. The parts can be animated as well. An isometric illustration can work for any kind of presentation, from technology to corporate. It will give your presentation a modern edge and a professional look.

25  Use motion graphics

Motion graphics are a great way to illustrate an idea with animated objects . They don’t tell stories on their own, they support the context and illustrate the content.

For example, if your presentation is about travel, you could have flying airplanes across the slides or bags on a luggage conveyor belt. For something more abstract, you can use moving shapes and add effects to the titles. Your Visme editor has a variety of design tools to help you create all sorts of content with motion graphics.

Here’s what one of Visme’s satisfied customers Jessica L. | Small-Business Owner, has to say about Visme’s presentation tool:

"No need to go back to PowerPoint. Visme makes project presentations easy and fast. Lots of useful templates and excellent graphics. I enjoy the features they continue to add and update often. They make project work easy".

26  Add GIFs to your slides

GIFs can be fun, entertaining and humorous. They can also be informational. GIFs be sourced from sites like Giphy , where you can also create your own! Choosing to include a GIF in your presentation slide or a few different GIFs will depend on what message you want to send with your story. The theme and topic of your presentation will help you decide if you need a clip from a blockbuster movie or a quick representation of the process of your systems.

RELATED:  Everything You Need to Know About Using Cool GIFs in Your Marketing

27  Use quotes between slides

Quotes can be good breathers between a bunch of informative slides. You can either use them to separate ideas inside your presentation or to start new sections of information. It’s important that your quotes represent the topic of your presentation so that they make sense and not confuse the viewer.

28  Start with “once upon a time”

One of the most effective and engaging ways to present a presentation is by incorporating creative storytelling techniques.

If a presentation can be created as a story, then why not go all the way and start the presentation with a classic story opening? Using the “once upon a time” phrase will instantly grab the viewer’s attention because it will be out of the ordinary. Make a slide especially for it with a visual that matches the topic of your presentation.

29  Turn the slides into a scrolling infographic instead of a presentation

To showcase your content in a unique and engaging way, consider using creative slide ideas that break away from the traditional slide-by-slide approach. For instance, you can arrange your slides vertically to create a scrolling infographic instead of a classic slide-by-slide transition presentation.

This innovative format expands the types of presentations you can create, offering a fresh perspective on information delivery.

An added bonus to this presentation style is to add parallax scrolling or interaction animation. As the viewer scrolls down, the information fills each slide progressively. It doesn’t continue until the viewer scrolls again. This technique is best for displaying online slide show presentation ideas.

Create a scrolling presentation in minutes.

30  engage your audience.

What’s one of the best ways to make your presentations more interesting? Make the audience a part of them.

Regardless if you’re presenting in person to a room full of people or via Zoom to viewers around the world, there are a number of techniques to engage your audience with both your content and yourself. The trick is to make them feel connected somehow, like they can relate. You can achieve this with humor, storytelling, asking questions and inviting them to leave comments in the webinar chat window.

Take this speech by Donovan Livingston. He delivers a commencement speech in spoken word poetry, and specifically encourages the audience to take part, saying they should clap, throw their hands in the air, or otherwise participate if they feel so moved. While not seen, several people are heard cheering and clapping throughout the video.

Participation can also be accomplished through things such as games, posing questions or something as simple as asking participants to raise their hands.

31 Use a scrunched paper background

Give your presentation a laid-back and grunge feel by designing it with a scrunched paper background. It can be any kind of paper really, depending on your topic. It could be notebook paper, or printer paper, it could even be recycled paper. Try a few different types of paper until you find the one that suits your story.

32 Add interactive pop-ups

Adding interactive pop-ups is a game-changer when it comes to creative ways of presenting. These pop-ups allow you to go beyond the traditional approach, giving your audience a more dynamic and engaging experience.

Interactive pop-ups can take many forms, from quizzes and polls to clickable infographics and interactive timelines. With Visme, you can access various interactive features that can help you create engaging and effective presentations.

For example, you can create clickable icons or buttons that allow your audience to explore additional information or resources. You can also create interactive timelines that enable your audience to explore different events or milestones.

One of the most powerful interactive features of Visme is the ability to create quizzes and polls. You can make interactive questions and answer options that allow your audience to engage with your presentation on a deeper level.

You can also use this feature to gather feedback from your audience, allowing you to tailor your presentation to their needs and interests.

Watch the video below or read this article to learn how to create an interactive presentation .

33  Use a back-to-school theme

A back-to-school theme can make your presentation look like a lot of fun. This is a great technique for teachers and educators welcoming their students back to a new school year. The background can be a sheet of notebook paper, an open notebook, or a blackboard. The edges could be decorated with pencils and paperclips, maybe an eraser or sharpener. The back-to-school theme has lots of possibilities.

34  Use a billboard-inspired theme

Use billboard mockups to create slides which look like billboards. This could look interesting and quite unique.  You could use the same billboard for all the slides, or different ones for a more varied approach. This technique would work great with a pitch for an election or a local spot in a government office.  

35  Use black-and-white photography

Black and white photography is a classic design technique. They import elegance and sophistication to any design by providing a minimalistic approach to the visuals. The photos can either be desaturated from color photos or given an artistic flair with extra contrast and fewer grey tones.

36  Explain your reasons

What people really want to know is why you’re giving the presentation you’re giving. This is especially true if you’re pitching to investors or potential new clients. When you share your why with the audience using storytelling and body language, you make meaningful connections and lasting relationships

Simon Sinek explains quite well why this is so important—the greatest leaders, the ones who inspire the most people, understand why they do the things they do, rather than just what or how.

When it comes to explaining your reasons, one tool that can significantly improve your presentations is Visme's AI writer . This advanced feature helps you write your presentation copy, break down complex ideas and edit or improve your existing words. With Visme's AI writer, you can make sure your "why" is clear and easy to understand alongside your visuals.

37  Add an audio narrative

Your presentation doesn’t need to be silent, especially if you won’t be standing by it to tell the story yourself. Adding an audio narrative can turn a viewable presentation into an experience. You can either set it up as a video that runs on its own and the viewer looks and listens, or it can be triggered by arrows that are clicked on.

RELATED:  How to Create a Narrated Presentation With Voice Over Using Visme

38 Follow a space theme with photography

Most of the photos from Nasa are labeled as public domain. Meaning that you can give your presentation a space theme quite easily. Choose images of astronauts in space or more abstract and colorful images like distant galaxies and nebulas. The latter can make great backgrounds behind content without the topic necessarily being about space.

39 Do a space theme with illustration

An illustrated space theme can be either colorful and whimsical or sober and elegant. By choosing the style of illustration you use, you can either use this technique for presentations related to children or scientists. Cartoon astronauts can be lots of fun, line illustration planets can be educational and data-driven drawings can be informational.

40  Include music

Sometimes, when listening to someone talk for long periods of time, it helps to have something else to draw your attention. While images are great, including music can really help stimulate an audience and set the mood.

Dean Burnett talks about why this happens: “[Music] provides non-invasive noise and pleasurable feelings, to effectively neutralize the unconscious attention system’s ability to distract us.” Essentially, music is entertaining enough that, when in the background, can keep us focused on otherwise un-entertaining things.

Take, for example, this valedictorian’s speech. While peppered with humor and stories of his time through high school, he uses background music to help keep people’s attention—in fact, this is specifically stated to be his reason for including music, humorously quipping about giving the audience something to listen to while they “zone out” of his speech.

Whether incorporated into individual slides, in a video, done live, or with a music-playing device nearby, this creative presentation idea can be a great way to enhance the quality of your speech or talk.

41  Graffiti photography backgrounds and details

Using colorful backgrounds like photos of urban graffiti can give your presentation a bit of an edge. There are lots of free photographs of graffiti on sites like Unsplash which you can use straight away. Apart from graffiti murals, you can also incorporate graffiti letterings in your titles and quotes. You can find graffiti style fonts online quite easily.

42  Stop-motion

The stop-motion technique can take time but it can also make your presentation unforgettable. There are lots of ways to use stop-motion, either with characters doing actions or objects that move around and create a scene. Stop-motion can also be used to create titles that move into place. What the title is written with can be anything, from toys to plants. The theme and topic of your presentation will ultimately be the driving point to what kind of stop-motion can be used. But be sure that it works from educational to promotional to corporate.

43  Claymation

Very similar to stop-motion, claymation is the animation of things created with clay or play-doh. Anything can be created with clay, so the possibilities really are endless about what can be achieved. This technique really does take a lot of time, you can source it out to a professional or buy some already created footage. The claymation can be just a decorative element in the background or it could also be the center of the presentation.

44  Color blocking

The color blocking technique is another creative presentation idea that entails using color in large sections and in contrasting tones. The idea is that the color blocks will be strong and colorful. The color blocks can either be the shapes that determine where the information goes or just a way to separate the slides in specific sections.

Any type of presentation can benefit from color blocking. Just make sure you use colors that go together and don’t clash. Explore this technique for different presentation slide ideas, especially when aiming for a bold and visually striking effect. Take a look at this sponsorship deck and how it uses bright and bold color blocking techniques.

45  Get surreal

Surrealism is an avant-garde movement from the 20th century which was meant to tap into subconscious creativity. This might not be the kind of design technique for any sort of presentation but it can work for one that is about art, or literature or other creative outlets. There are plenty of surrealist artworks in the public domain sector or the Metropolitan Museum of Art. These can be used as subtle backgrounds or visual complements to the text.

Designing a presentation for an organization requires input from different stakeholders. However, when collaborating with others on a presentation design, keeping track of all the moving parts can be difficult.

That's where Visme's workflow management feature comes in. It helps organize roles, tasks, progress, deadlines and corrections all in one place to make your presentation design process efficient and smooth.

46  Polaroids

Polaroids, often a photography favorite, can inspire creative photography presentation ideas. The original Polaroids from the 70’s could be used as vintage polaroids that have been kept in a box for years. The newest Instamatic photographs, which are the new kind of polaroids, can be used for a fun way to show photos and visuals in presentation slides. You could either use one polaroid per slide or a collection of polaroids on a table or corkboard.

There are many topics that can work with Polaroid photography backgrounds and details in your slide show presentation ideas.

47  Use a Handwriting Font

Fonts come in all shapes and sizes, including lots of handwriting fonts. Handwritten fonts can be used for any type of presentation as long as the style matches the topic of the information. There are kid-style handwriting, calligraphy style handwriting, hand lettering, and novelty fonts as well. The options are wide and varied for this design technique. Creative Bloq has a great collection of handwritten fonts.

48  Use a geometric background

A geometric background can look really nice on any presentation. Geometric backgrounds can be tiled polygons or more abstract compositions of different size polygons. The decision to choose between tiled shapes and more creative compositions will depend on your creative angle and disposition. You can use these types of designs with any colors, so you can match the theme or your brand.

49 Coffee style design

Using a coffee-style design can work for any PowerPoint presentation idea, from office-related topics to digital nomads to anything or anyone who loves coffee. If the background is subtle, it can fit a more serious topic or data report. It can make a boring presentation just a bit more visually entertaining than the rest. Of course, it can also be perfect for a small coffee brewer pitching their company to investors.

50  Include memes

You’ve seen them everywhere by this point. You might be pretty sick of them. However, that doesn’t mean memes can’t be useful—in fact, using a couple strategically can surprise the audience and make them laugh.

The presentation " Memes, Memes Everywhere" focuses on, unsurprisingly, memes, and explains their purpose while using examples on every slide, which help support their points and add some humor to a very text-heavy presentation.

Choosing relevant memes and using them sparingly can really help add some personality to your presentation, without distracting from the work.

RELATED: 85+ Best Free Presentation Templates

51  Polka dots

Using a polka-dot background is suitable for various types of presentations. It can give your presentation a whimsical look or simply give it a subtle texture. The polka dots could be small and soft or big and punchy. A strong polka-dot background can work great in a creative setting or even boring data analysis. The style of polka dots will depend on the general topic of your presentation. You can use the polka-dot design as a full background or as a decorative section on the slide.

52  Metaphors

Visual metaphors can be useful in a similar manner; they can spice up your presentation, illustrate your point, and make your work far more entertaining. James Geary speaks about just how important metaphors are.

His presentation provides several examples of metaphors--such as the phrase “some jobs are jails”--and explains just how hard it is to ignore the lasting power of a well-used metaphor. Because of the connotations a metaphor can bring to the table, their use is an excellent way to imbue added meaning to your words.

53  Use timelines in your slides

Timelines can be used in lots of different ways inside a PowerPoint presentation, and the ideas are limitless. A timeline can either be inside one slide, or it can be connected between various slides. You can make a timeline with icons, connected shapes, or an inclined line. The timeline can be a visual way of explaining a chronological event or a plan of action that needs to be taken care of. Make sure the timeline fits the rest of the theme.

54  Use a comic book style

Comic books are a source of inspiration for many people. The visual aspect of a comic style composition can really make your presentation shine. There are a few ways you can use this technique. You could set up the slides as if they were snippets of a comic book, place the text in speech and thought bubbles and apply a background with a pointillist texture. If using characters, make sure the characters fit the theme of your presentation. For a perfect fit, hire a designer to create a comic book presentation just for your company.

55  Use a manga style

Looking for creative PowerPoint slide ideas that stand out? Consider taking inspiration from the Japanese art of Manga. Manga can give your presentation a distinct and eye-catching look, much like comic books.

It isn’t as versatile as a comic book because it has a more specific look, so it might not work for all topics. It can work for more creative outlets like fashion, art, and photography. Manga has a specific style for the atmosphere around the unique characters as well. They are more common in black and white and look very photographic.

56  Use psychedelic visuals

Psychedelia was a big part of the design world in the 60’s and 70’s. Music and creative event posters were so intricate and colorful that they took an important place in the design history books. This design style can be used for a unique visual approach in your presentations. Just like many other techniques we have mentioned, they can be used as a background in slides or as decorative elements. The swirly shapes and contrasting colors can call attention to the viewer in a positive way.

Create professional and engaging presentations online!

• Choose from hundreds of fully designed templates
• Align colors, fonts and images with your brand
• Add custom charts, timelines, icons, animations and more

57  Use neon lights

Neon lights are a great way to give your presentation some life when it’s otherwise visually bland. There are plenty of neon light fonts available online to choose from, from classic style neon tubing on a wall to a neon style given to a font to make it look like neon. Presentations of any topic can be given an additional visual with a bit of neon brightness.

58  Cinemagraph backgrounds

A cinemagraph is like a GIF loaded with elegance. The idea behind a cinemagraph is a photo with a moving section which makes it look cinematic. This kind of background can keep your viewers happily hypnotized while listening to your audio narrative or keep them on the slide longer to truly grasp the information being given. There are cinemagraphs available for all sorts of themes and topics. You can definitely find one that suits your needs.

59  Full-screen video backgrounds

A full-screen background can be really appealing. But just like other design ideas, the video you choose needs to match the theme and topic of your presentation. Your best bet is to have a video which is directly related to what your presentation is about. Videos can be created especially for your purpose, sourced with permission from YouTube or bought from a stock video site.

60  Visualize data

Staring at a large amount of numbers on screen can be overwhelming for most people, even if the realities of those numbers enforce your point. What’s the best way to avoid scaring your crowd? Put the data into easily understandable visualizations. This especially helpful when customizing sales, business or consultant presentation template . 

If you want to take this a step further, you can use illustrations or create infographics to make these data visualizations even more engaging.

61  Use a wild west theme

The wild west is not a very versatile theme but can work for a history project or a proposal for a wild west themed party or event. What entails a wild west theme? Brown sandy tones, horses, cowboys, and tumbleweeds. If the full-on wild west theme is too much, you can also take a cue from the era and be inspired by the color scheme. Another approach would be to use photography from the actual west of the United States, mountains and deserts and so on.

62 Use mind maps

Mind maps are great visual tools for explaining concepts easily. By including mind maps in your slides, you can relay complicated information visually and creatively. There are eight types of mind maps, the most common being bubble maps, the tree map, and flow map. Each one has a different purpose and you can learn all about this in our guide about mind maps in the Visual Learning Center.

63  Use interactive geographic maps

The difference between a static map and an interactive map will define how much attention your slides get. Regions can switch colors according to a change in data over time, making the map more into a chart. With Visme, you can make your maps interactive with live data . All you need to do is sync your data from a Google Sheets file and when your presentation is published online, your map will always be synchronized to that data.

Want to create your own interactive map?

• Create a color-coded map to visualize geographical data
• Choose either the entire world map, a continent or a country
• Enable feature to have data values appear on hover

64  Color contrasts

Using contrasting colors in your slides will make the information pop out of the screen in a positive way. The trick to using contrasting colors is to know how colors match together. Contrasting doesn’t mean they need to clash. Try using a color palette generator like Adobe Color to find great palettes that will make this technique your new best friend. You can learn more about how color works in our guide about color perception in the Visme Learning Center.

65  Live data graphs

Adding live data to a presentation can turn your slides into evergreen content in a flash. You can use any type of chart and populate it with live data such as bar graphs, line graphs, pie graphs, and more. You can add live data graphs to one or two slides in your presentation or have a series of them. Creating a live data graph is easy with the Visme editor.

66  Color fade transitions

Transitions come in lots of different styles. We have mentioned horizontal transitions, animated transitions, and pathway transitions. This particular technique involves color as the ruling factor.

A color-fade transition makes each slide connected to each other through color. This can be achieved with gradients, color blocks, or colored photo filters. Make your PowerPoint presentation ideas stand out with color fade transitions.

67  “Grow” your presentation so it looks like one animated slide

This creative PowerPoint idea is quite interesting as it really only uses one slide that grows upon itself. The practical way to do this is to create the final slide with all the parts and information set up like a finished puzzle. Once you have the completed slide, duplicate it as many times as you need and systematically take off a bit of information until you’ve reached the first title slide. Once you have all the slides, make sure they are in order before downloading the entire thing.

RELATED:  A Non-Designer’s Guide to Creating Memorable Visual Presentations [Free E-Book]

68  Use humor

Want a great way to connect with your audience and make a memorable, more engaging presentation? Be funny. When used strategically, this is a great way to capture attention. In fact, infusing humor into your talk is one of the most effective fun presentation ideas you can use.

Morgan Spurlock makes wonderful use of this in his TED talk. For example, in one of his earliest statements, he offered individuals the opportunity to buy the rights to name his TED talk—which he refers to again at the end, where he reveals the title. He peppers the entire presentation with humorous commentary that nonetheless supports his point.

Create relevant jokes or find a way to bring out the humor in your subject, and your audience will be much more engaged and more likely to remember your words.

69  Tree diagram transitions

A tree diagram is one of the eight thinking maps which help visualize idea and concepts. The purpose of a tree diagram is to classify and organize information. This map can help build a presentation by making sure each slide is a continuation of the one before. They might need to be grouped into sections so that all the information is relayed easily.

Want to create your own tree diagram?

• Get a head start with pre-made flowchart blocks
• Easily snap lines and objects together
• Dozens of shapes and lines styles to choose from

70  Journal style (with hand-drawn illustrations on the margins)

One creative presentation idea is to make your talk just a little bit different than the rest is to use a journal style. The general visual idea for this technique is to make your slides look like the pages of a journal. The style of the journal will depend on what your presentation topic is. It can be a whimsical bullet journal or an intricate botany journal. You could even consider handwriting on paper as a background.

71  Ink splatters

Use ink splatters to decorate your slides any way you like. They can be big and impressive behind the content, or they can be small and subtle like drops from a pen. An ink splatter can give your presentation a bit of an artistic flair and if done right, can make your slides look elegant and clean. Any style of presentation can benefit from some ink splatters as a decorative element.

If you're looking for fresh presentation slide ideas, why not experiment with ink splatters and see how they can enhance your next presentation?

72  Passport with stamps

Using travel stamps as a decorative element can work for a presentation with a travel-theme or a creative design proposal for a department store or airport mall. The stamps can be used as a background on a passport page or on their own around the content. A photo of a real passport page can be used for this technique but there are plenty of graphics available in this style on sites like Freepik .

73  Express your emotions

We can sometimes be afraid of expressing how we feel, even to those we’re close to, much less in front of a crowd. However, showing them makes your words more authentic and can generate compassion or excitement in your audience.

Take this TED talk by Thordis Elva and Tom Stranger , for example. While the two talk about their experiences, their voices break and crack. The emotional turmoil they went through is clearly heard, and viewers can clearly understand their pain.

This can take some getting used to, and some courage. However, the results are well worth the effort.

74  Use a video game theme

Video games come in all shapes and sizes. From kids' games to arcade games to car games. Each one has their own style, just like presentations do. If you think a video game visual style is good for your project, consider all the different kinds until you find the one that fits best. You can use game screenshots as backgrounds or infuse the entire design of the presentation with the video game style you chose.

75  Use postcards

One of the least-used creative presentation ideas is to turn your content inside slides into postcards which have been sent from around the world. They can be new postcards which could be used from either front or back sides. The back part would make a great text block for the content you need to display, the photo side can be on the sides or as a background. This design technique can work for presentations about literature, family connections, history or travel. There are postcard templates available on sites like Creative Market .

76  Incorporate robots in the design

Using robots in your slides can be a creative approach to visually elevate your presentation. There are different styles of robots you can add to your presentation design; realistic photography of anamorphic robots, cute illustrated robots, or robotic parts from factories. These visuals might only apply for technology-themed presentations or about robots themselves. Cute illustrations of robots can be great backgrounds for whimsical topics or other styles of storytelling presentations.

77  Chalk on blackboard

Looking for creative slides presentation ideas? Consider using a chalkboard design to add a unique and nostalgic touch to your presentation.

Writing on a chalkboard is not limited to a school setting or a bar menu. These two might be the most common yet they are not the only possibilities for using chalk on a blackboard. A good handwriting font is the best companion to a chalkboard design. Some of these fonts are already available with a chalky texture and others might need some professional tweaking to get the right texture.

78  Get inspired by a specific location

Even if the PowerPoint presentation ideas you are designing are not about a specific place in the world, you can be inspired by one to set up the color scheme and feel of the slides. For example, if you get inspired by Greece, you can use white and light blue hues or even photos of Greek islands. If you get inspired by Brazil, you can use photos of the beach, the texture of the boardwalk tiles or green, blue, and yellow color schemes.

79  Use props

Using props can quickly turn a run-of-the-mill presentation into a unique, interactive experience. Kenny Nguyen demonstrates this well. In his talk he often refers to the “sword of yes” and “shield of no.” Naturally he picks up a sword and shield from the table to help demonstrate his points.

Choosing similar props can help you really illustrate your points—and make it that much more entertaining, too.

80  Use hashtags as titles

In the age of social media, hashtags are used every day. They appear regularly on social media, in spoken and written conversations, and of course in content marketing. Why not include some hashtags as titles? This technique will work great in a presentation for a social media content management pitch, or an in an influencer marketing strategy. On another note, hashtag titles can even be used for any type of presentation geared at the digital generation.

81  Black background, white letters, and color accents

When you use a black background, the colors that you place on top will usually look brighter than if they were on a white background. When creating this kind of color palette, make sure the colors you use don’t clash with each other or with the black. Along with the bright colors, make sure you use white to make the composition pop! Neon colors or pastel tones are what will work best.

82  Vintage film edges

Even though we are used to taking photos with our phones, the classic nostalgia of film is still prevalent in the world of visuals and design. The graphic representation of a film negative is as recognizable as an envelope representing an email. Use a vintage film edge along the horizontal edges of your slides to give your visuals a cinematic feel. Even better if you make the edges animated so that it looks like it’s rolling along on a projector.

83 Adult coloring book inspired design

Using a coloring book design can be really creative. Practically anything can be turned into a coloring book style illustration. A great way to use this technique is to have the first slide with the un-colored illustration and then progressively color in the illustration as the slides progress. Furthermore, if the illustration is depictive of the information, the visuals can be even more engaging.

84  Stripes

A stripes design is as classic as it gets. From pinstripes to artistic colorful lines, you can use them as a subtle background or a powerful striped theme intertwined with text boxes. Stripes are the kind of design technique that can work for any type of presentation, from corporate to educational.

85  Make each slide look like a social media post

Just like postcards and polaroids, you could try a creative approach and use social media templates to put the content in. The most notorious social media visual channel is Instagram. It has been known to inspire offline events as well. Make your slides look like social media posts or social media pages. For this technique, you can either use screenshots or templates.

86  Ink in water

Dropping ink in water creates beautiful colorful bubbly designs which can be photographed at high speed. These images can be used as backgrounds for any type of creative theme presentations. Choose the color and thickness of the ink design to match the theme of your presentation. There are also animated versions of this effect which can be bought like video stock.

87  Lego bricks

Use lego bricks as inspiration to fill your presentation slides with color and fun. Use the bricks to create slide frames, letters or even charts. The best approach to a lego inspired presentation is to be creative. There are lots of things you can do with lego, you could go as far as using the legos to write the titles of the slides. Don’t use the Lego logo though unless you are specifically designing a presentation about lego.

88  Use classic storytelling techniques

A presentation is, in a way, like a story—you’re talking about your chosen subject and leading viewers on a journey to discover what that subject means. Moreover, stories hold an intrinsic interest for us. Therefore, you can easily use several storytelling techniques to help improve your presentation.

Alex Blinkoff  goes into this in great detail, examining things such as “The Hero’s Journey” and provides several examples of ways to use storytelling techniques in your presentations. Check them out, and decide what might work best for your subject.

Click on image to view interactive slide show created with Visme

89  Jigsaw puzzles

Pieces of a jigsaw puzzle can be used to make charts, infographic diagrams, or interlocking frames. The idea behind puzzle pieces is that things come together to form a whole and this concept can be used for any slide and any kind of presentation. Make sure to use a suitable color palette that matches your theme and the rest of the presentation.

90  Headlines coming in animated on boats/trains/airplane

Headlines or titles can be given a life of their own inside the slides. One interesting and creative approach would be to make the titles enter the slide on top of some kind of vehicle. The vehicle could be anything, from a train to a boat, to an airplane. Depending on the type of vehicle, this animated technique can be used for child-themed topics, transportation themes, travel ideas, or even about a corporate sales report.

91  Use a camouflage design

Camo doesn’t necessarily need to convey a sense of military, although it does carry a strong connection. Thankfully, camouflage comes in different styles, from jungle greens to desert browns. Other out of the box camouflage styles are the ones where the colors are completely off the charts, like pinks and blues. Camouflage designs are better used as backgrounds or small subtle sections.

92  Use unique novelty fonts for headers

There are so many novelty fonts to choose from out there these days! Using a unique novelty font for the titles and headers is a great way to add some visual pizzazz to your slides. Try looking for some really special fonts that carry personality. Once you have selected the font, add some color and texture to make it look even better.

93  Use a city skyline

Using a background of a city skyline can work great for a presentation related to business or corporate topics. It can also be perfect for an urban travel related theme or educational presentation. You can choose to use photography as a background or with the buildings cut out from the sky. Another choice is to find an illustrated city skyline and use it as a border on the slides.

94  Use a connected dots background

One of the design trends of the last few years is the connected dots visual. It’s used on websites and on printed flyers. It’s so versatile that it can be added to any kind of presentation in a heartbeat. The lines can be short or long between the dots and the composition can be tight or spread out. You can find connected dot visuals easily on sites like Freepik, in lots of different colors. If you can manage vector graphics , you can also change the composition of the dots quite easily yourself.

95  Use a bokeh background

Bokeh is a photography and light technique which turns dots of light into bright shiny spheres. With a bit of creativity, the lights can be turned into shapes, like hearts or stars. This design style is great for backgrounds since it’s mostly abstract. It works best as a complement to the content instead of an important visual aspect. You can find bokeh backgrounds in stock photo sites or make it yourself.

96  Use watercolor designs

The use of watercolor designs is an easy way of infusing some lively color into a presentation. Watercolors can be a splash on the background, shapes around the content, or colorful strokes intertwined with text boxes. Depending on the color of the paint used, the watercolor technique can be used for any type of presentation. A soft watercolor brushed background can work for a feminine theme and a deep intense splash can add visual creativity to an otherwise boring corporate presentation.

Just like watercolor graphics, paint can add a dose of creativity to any presentation. Different to watercolors though, paint is more intense. Paint based graphics come in all shapes and sizes, from thick brush strokes to paint drips. Digital paint compositions can also make great backgrounds for colorful and creative presentations.

98  Use bright fun colors

Why create a bland presentation when you can make it fun and colorful instead? Creative color palettes can include up to six different colors which look great together. Use shapes, cut-outs, color blocks, swashes, anything your heart desires. This technique is for letting go and being creatively free with color. Just make sure the colors go together by trying out some palettes first.

99  Use arrow graphics

Arrows symbolize direction. They can be a great addition to your charts, infographic visuals and slide sections. You could even do the entire presentation using arrows. According to their size, color, and thickness, they have different temperaments. Look for different styles of arrows and see if they fit your topic and theme. Freepik has some great arrow visuals and the Visme editor also has arrow icons and infographic visuals.

100  Use electronic visuals

Another great idea for a background visual is the inside of a computer system. The intricate details of a motherboard or a close up of a memory chip can make a great visual impact. Apart from using an electronic background image, little pieces of electronic devices can be placed around the slide as decoration. This technique is generally limited to electronic or computer theme topics.

101  Metaphors

Visual metaphors can be useful in a similar manner. They can spice up your presentation, illustrate your point, and make your work far more entertaining. James Geary speaks about just how important metaphors are.

102  Keep it feminine

A feminine style design can work for your presentation if your company makes products for women or if your targeted audience is women. By feminine design, we mean light and soft colors, subtle shapes and a general airy feeling to the composition. Feminine design can be minimal but it can also be decadent and full of style. Whichever you chose, make sure it fits with your audience.

103  Go futuristic

A futuristic style can fit any theme as long as the concept of the future depicted, fits the topic of the presentation. Futuristic design can be of many different styles; from spaceship driving controls to cosmos related atmospheres, to flying cars, and artificial intelligence. Even color palettes can look futuristic if you add some metallic tones.

104  Add a music background

A music soundtrack can be added to any presentation that doesn’t have any other sort of audio already. The best music for a presentation is one without lyrics, in other words, an instrumental track. A good track will accompany the content in a positive way and not interfere with the message. You can find audio tracks easily online.

105  Communicate with images

A picture can speak a thousand words. Naturally, they can be used to communicate concepts that, for the sake of space or time, you might not be able to include in the presentation itself. This slide deck  uses this strategy to its advantage.

The presentation includes many images as backgrounds and minimal text. The images used always either enhance what’s being said or, in some cases, provide the answer for viewers. For example, the second slide states “The Landscape Today,” and includes a bleak background with a broken, tilted picture frame, emphasizing the idea that the following slides (which describe the landscape) offer some pretty disheartening information.

Using images in a related fashion can help express your views and emphasize your message.

Harness the power of Visme's AI image edit tools in your toolkit. These advanced yet easy-to-use tools let you effortlessly edit, touch up, unblur and upscale your images using simple prompts. It's an incredibly convenient way to add extra polish and clarity to your pictures to make your presentations more impactful.

106  Include artsy data visualization

Data visualization is a way of showing data and information in a way that is visually expressive. Creative data analysts can make some really beautiful creations and you can hire them to make them for you. If you haven’t seen any creative data visualizations, take a look at our collection of the best of 2018 and get inspired. You can either make the whole presentation into a data viz or add them to some of the slides.

By Beyond Words Studio

RELATED:  The 25 Best Data Visualizations of 2018

107  Stay branded

This creative tip is a simple yet effective way to spark good presentation ideas. When creating your presentation, do your best to stay on brand. This, of course, will work only if you are creating a presentation for your own brand. If creating one for a client, then you should stay on brand with their own brand style guide. This means only use the brand colors and fonts, use photos, textures, and shapes that match the brand.

Use Visme's brand design tool to ensure your presentations perfectly reflect your brand personality. Just copy and paste your website URL, and the tool will automatically extract your branding assets, such as brand colors, brand fonts and company logo.

108 Ask questions

A great tip to make your PowerPoint presentations ideas more interactive is to ask questions from your audience.  Like the example below, you can display only your question on the slide. Once the audience has pitched in their opinions and answers, you can click to reveal the actual answer. You can enable this type of interactivity on click when making a presentation in Visme .

109 Replace boring bullet points with visuals

While adding bullet points in your slides might be better than adding walls of text, they're still not the most effective way to get your message across and engage your audience. Take things up a notch and replace boring bullets with visuals, such as photos and even icons. Here's an example of how you can use icons to add a creative twist to the plain ol' bullet points.

110 Share your slide deck

Downloading your slide deck and presenting in front of an audience is not the only way to use your presentation. Make the most of your slides by sharing your presentation online.

Add interactive elements, such as clickable buttons, links, hover effects, popups, embedded videos and more so your audience can view and engage with your slides on their own.

If you've created your presentation in Visme, you can share your presentation publicly or privately using a link, or embed it anywhere you like.

Start Using These Creative Presentation Ideas

Ready to start creating your own presentation after over 100 pieces of inspiration? Choose your favorite creative presentation ideas and incorporate them into your own presentation.

You can add interactivity, animation, visuals and all kinds of creative elements to your presentations when you design them in Visme's online presentation maker. With our Dynamic Field feature , you can automatically update key information in real-time across all your slides or multiple projects. Customize existing dynamic fields or create new ones and format them to maintain design consistency.

Create a free account with Visme to start building a presentation your audience will love.

Design a beautiful and engaging presentation with Visme

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About the Author

Orana is a multi-faceted creative. She is a content writer, artist, and designer. She travels the world with her family and is currently in Istanbul. Find out more about her work at oranavelarde.com

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8 Interactive Presentation Ideas to Engage Your Audience in 2024

content creator

Anastasia Popova See full bio →

When you create presentations in PowerPoint, Google Slides, or another tool, a rule of thumb is to always think about your learners and their needs first. It’s not enough to deliver the information you intended. You need to wrap it in an easily digestible and engaging format to promote effective knowledge retention. 

Interactivity is one of the key presentation elements you can use to accomplish that. Interactive presentations are a fantastic asset in the learning process: they foster learner communication, encourage active participation, and create a more immersive educational experience.

In this article, you’ll get the best interactive presentation ideas for PowerPoint and other tools through 8 actionable strategies and discover the best interactive features out there. Read on and get fully equipped with tools and techniques to boost interactivity and keep your learning audience engaged.

• Use Multimedia Storytelling
• Survey Your Audience
• Play Interactive Games with Learners
• Hold Q&A Sessions During Interactive Presentations
• Include Collaborative Brainstorming Sessions
• Check Your Audience’s Understanding with a Quiz
• Incorporate Role-Play Scenarios
• Engage Physical Space and Movement

Best Interactive Presentation Tools

Best Practices for Creating Interactive Presentations

Faq on interactive presentation ideas, 1. use multimedia storytelling.

Creating a quality presentation with multimedia elements is always a sure way to make your content more visually appealing and effective. You can use various visuals, such as video and images, or add audio to your presentations to create a captivating narrative and encourage the audience to interact with your material . 

Also read → How to Create an Interactive PowerPoint Presentation

Depending on the content of your presentation, here are some types of multimedia elements you can benefit from: 

Images and slideshows

A presentation with plain text is not just dull. It also makes it more difficult for your audience to follow your stream of thought because it lacks visual engagement and fails to convey information memorably. Images and slideshows solve this problem and help you make your PowerPoint presentation interactive by enabling you to: 

• Illustrate your ideas and points
• Showcase products and features
• Create storytelling sequences, etc.

Content creator

Anastasia Popova

Anastasia is an experienced educator and dedicated agile learning enthusiast. Her particular areas of expertise include learning management and eLearning localization. She is passionate about sharing insights on effective tools and strategies for creating captivating eLearning experiences.

The Best Interactive Presentation Software and Tools in 2024

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5 Interactive Presentation Ideas to Make Your Message Memorable

One of the greatest challenges presenters face is making their content memorable. Not only do they want to hold the attention of the audience, but they also want people to reflect on the presentation after it ends. There are plenty of ways to engage people, from opening jokes to icebreaker games , but they don’t necessarily guarantee that your audience will remember and actively apply your message. 

There is a science to connecting and engaging with audiences so that they better retain the information you present. The key is to make your presentations more interactive so people better engage with and retain your ideas. Discover why interaction is so valuable and test these interactive presentation ideas with your next audience. 

Why interactive presentations are so effective

To better understand why interactive presentations work, it helps to briefly step into the world of pedagogical theory. American educator Edgar Dale is credited with inventing the Cone of Experience , which highlights how we only remember 20% of what we hear, but 70% of what we say and 90% of what we do. Listening to a presentation and scanning slides on a deck is a form of passive learning, where audiences are more likely to forget the material. Conversely, discussing the content with someone else or simulating an experience is a form of active learning where audiences remember and apply what they know. 

Interactive presentations move audiences deeper into the Cone of Experience where they better engage with your message. People are more likely to remember what you are trying to convey and can tie your message to the activities you developed to reinforce your ideas. That doubles the opportunity for them to remember something compared to simply hearing a message during a static presentation. 

5 interactive presentation ideas for active learning

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to interactive learning. Depending on your audience and topic, you can incorporate multiple activities and engaging elements into your talk. Here are a few ideas to get started if you are ready to elevate your presentations.

1. Lead with real-time trivia questions

The first way to engage your audience is to collect feedback from your audience. Start your presentation with real-time trivia that tests what they know. You can incorporate a Poll Everywhere Multiple Choice Activity or a short Competition to quiz your audience. This immediately engages your listeners and challenges them to think about the content. 

There is also a pedagogical reason for leading with trivia: you are tapping into prior knowledge . Your audience members don’t have to be experts on the topic at hand, but they can reflect on what they are already familiar with and reinforce their knowledge with your messaging. This makes the content stickier, meaning your audience is more likely to remember it. 

After you ask the first questions, incorporate trivia throughout your presentation to reinforce concepts. A great example of this would be starting your presentation with a well-known misconception related to your topic. Ask your audience to answer based on what they know, and then after disproving this concept, ask them the same question again. Your audience will be surprised by the difference in their answers. This will also give your audience a dopamine hit (the feel-good hormone that comes with “aha!” moments) when they realize how much they are learning. 

2. Let audience members express themselves through polls 

Polling is a form of trivia that lets people express their opinions or ideas about a topic. For example, if you are leading a group of entrepreneurs through an accounting seminar, you might take a poll to identify what percentage of the audience “thinks bookkeeping is tedious,” or “gets overwhelmed easily by financial spreadsheets.” 

Take advantage of real-time polling software like Poll Everywhere to see how your audience feels about the topic at hand or the information they are learning.  

There is also a psychological reason to take these polls: they enable you to tap into group emotions where people form connections because they experience the same feelings. This creates a sense of community and ties your messaging to emotional responses, making the content more memorable. 

3. Create a collaborative whiteboard

A collaborative whiteboard (or giant Post-it note) allows people to share their thoughts and ideas on the material as you introduce new concepts. It is a form of scaffolding where you start with a foundational idea and expand on it with more advanced information. You can create a single whiteboard with your audience or break them into groups so they create their giant Post-its together. 

Whenever there is a new idea, you or your audience writes it down on the whiteboard – ideally with a keyword or definition that explains what it means. New information is added throughout the presentation, highlighting how various concepts tie together. 

This is a form of active note-taking and collaborative learning where everyone works together to create a finished product. 

4. Create roleplay opportunities

Another way to utilize active learning is to let audience members work through situations where the material is applied. You can either break your audience into small groups to work through these activities or ask for a few brave volunteers to interact with you in front of everyone else. 

The small group method allows everyone to participate, maximizing the amount of active learning in the room. However, for the sake of time and to keep the audience’s attention, you might prefer to run through this roleplay with just one or two people. 

If you choose the latter option, challenge the rest of your audience to think of their answers while listening to the main volunteer. You can also ask the group to answer questions in real time with a Poll Everywhere Q&A Activity before the roleplay begins so you can see how the group’s answers compare to the volunteer’s responses.  

5. Ask your audience members to teach the material to each other

One of the best ways to prove that you understand a concept is to teach it to others. This is another opportunity for your audience to break into groups while you walk around the room helping each pod of learners.

Consider developing worksheets where the groups have to work through problems by applying what they learned. They can then explain to each other why they came up with those answers. These discussions can give audience members space to think about what they learned and how they can apply it. Try to incorporate open-ended questions into this group work that fosters healthy discussions.    

After the group work is complete, bring everyone together to discuss what they learned. People can highlight the challenges they faced, which alerts you to material you might want to review before the session is over. This is also a great way to collect feedback on which parts of your presentation are confusing to audiences. 

Test interactive presentation ideas with Poll Everywhere

Interactive elements can make any presentation more memorable, whether you are speaking to a group of employees or giving a keynote speech at an industry-leading conference. Wherever you talk, bring Poll Everywhere with you. Poll Everywhere is a great resource to engage audiences with trivia, poll questions, and word clouds. You can make your presentations better and form strong connections with your audiences. 

Create memorable and engaging presentations with Poll Everywhere. Create an account and incorporate one of our 8 core Activities types in your next presentation. 

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