Signs your Corporate PowerPoint Template Needs a Revamp

...can you help revamp our existing template before you proceed with designing the slides?

Yes, that has always been the question we get from our customers across the globe, when they first partnered with us at Chillibreeze for presentation design support.

Your PowerPoint template may be one of the most used/abused documents in the company. It needs constant maintenance and cleans up to be both in shape and consistent with your brand identity.

Be it a sales pitch or company profile, the first thing that the customers want us to do is revamp their existing template(s) into clean PowerPoint design or create a new PowerPoint template but that is another topic to discuss, for now, let's talk about revamping PowerPoint Template. So, how would you know that you need to revamp your PowerPoint template?

Do I need to revamp my Corporate PowerPoint template?

Follow the below checklist to identify if your reliable template needs some more tender love and care:

Check your Slide Master

1. Does it have the number of required slide layouts, or does it have unnecessary duplicate Slides layout and Slide masters?
2. Are your Slides layout or in case you have multiple Slide master properly named?
   
3. Guidelines - do you have them in your template, if not you should?
4. Your template has only one format- either 4:3 which is considered Standard/ Normal size and is getting old. You should also consider having a 16:9 widescreen size, this would actually make sense with the current trend of display devices having widescreen.
5. Do you have an updated/ latest brand Theme colors in your template? Any missing color palette or their orders with the appropriate brand colors to use?
6. Example slides - do you have them in your template, more importantly, instructions on how to achieve those example slides?
7. Does your template have references to a library of photos, illustrations, and icons to use?
8. Do you have a "how to use this template" kind of instructions in your template?
9. ...above all ask yourself, does your template help you to be more productive? Does it make sense to you and the team or is it easy to use?

How well did your template perform against this checklist? And it does not end with just the above list. There are other factors that you need to consider which I will share a few in the next paragraph. Yes, it is a lot of work to create a clean PowerPoint deck/template. But you also know it is an incredibly important business tool that you would probably be using every day in meetings with your prospects and stakeholders. Like any other marketing material and the company’s website, it deserves an equally high-quality standard and it is imperative for it to be easy to use.

Chances are, you have a big team within your company using PowerPoint as a mode of daily communication to your prospects, stakeholders and even internally. Not being a PowerPoint designer is not your fault. Neither is it your job to do PowerPoint design when your core focus area is something different.

Here is a Complete Guide to Creating Corporate PowerPoint Template.

A PowerPoint template with its pick 'n' use slides makes your day much easier. So, if you want to work faster and smarter, having your template updated is a key task. Here are some not-so-technical reasons why you should consider a template revamp.

Consistency across teams/teammates

1. You have a big team using PowerPoint presentations internally and outside of the company. None of you are PowerPoint designers. You are only a presenter. With many hands using the template, there is bound to be inconsistency and in time your template's brand identity wears out.
2. You often copy/ paste slides from previous slide decks to your current presentation. In the process, you unintentionally mess-up the design, structure/ layout and formatting of your template.
3. You want to have a clean PowerPoint template that is easy to use so that you can create those last minute slides without the help of your presentation services provider. But obviously, you still want your presentation to have a consistent look across team members.

Corporate Re-Branding

You or your boss is getting bored with the old outdated out of style design of your once amazing PowerPoint design. Or, your company recently had a merger/acquisition. Of course, such instances call for a corporate re-branding. Everything from the Logo to brand colors changes.

This is clearly the signal to consider a revamp for your corporate PowerPoint template. It is scary to think of the outcome of a poorly designed or brand defacing templates that may surface from across the teams.

Efficiency and productivity

Without a proper and well-designed template, you or your team will be spending more time to create a presentation as you need to figure out the best way to represent your ideas. A well-designed template will actually guide you to plan your content on each slide. So, if you are spending more than the usual time on your presentations, you probably need to see if you have to revamp/redesign your PowerPoint template to suit your current needs and requirements.

So there you have it!

Want to learn more about PowerPoint templates designs, tips, and tricks to help you boost your productivity and the team? Check out these articles below for more info!

PowerPoint Style Guide – the Easiest Way to Brand Building

8 Easy Ways to Know if your Presentation is Designed Well Enough

Minimalist PowerPoint Design: Know How To Solve The Problem