What to know about branding in presentation design

Presentations and presentation design are a tool and an opportunity to project the brand’s image onto an audience and showcase who you are. In presentation design, every slide, color, and phrase shouts out a brand’s personality. Adequately showcasing your brand creates brand awareness and visibility, leaving an imprint in your audience’s mind. With presentations, it is a platform to tell your brand’s story, share your values, and build a relationship with your audience. Whether the presentation is sharing an initiative, project, or research, the brand’s essence should shine through. This blog will discuss how to effectively incorporate your brand elements into your presentation slides.

Understanding your brand 

This is where it all begins! By understanding what your brand is at its core, you can begin to use that as a guidepost to design and produce your presentation.

Define your brand identity

A brand is much more than a bold logo and a quirky catchphrase; rather, it refers to the brand’s very essence and character. A company’s branding is rooted in its values and missions, which are the guiding principles that inform every decision, big or small. Then comes the second aspect of branding, which is the more recognizable external features, like the logo and color palette. These elements are the visual representation of the brand’s voice and personality. When thinking about your brand, you need to truly dive into its core nature to be able to represent its foundational principles.

Recognizing brand voice and tone

Similar to people, a brand’s personality leaves an impression on an audience. Every brand will have its own unique voice, which you can tease out by asking yourself what you want to sound like. Lively and friendly? Professional and informative? By identifying your brand’s key attributes, testing your tone, and deciding on a guideline, you will begin shaping a solid brand voice that builds a relationship with its listeners. The key here also lies in the consistent delivery of this personality across all messaging. The persistent tone builds familiarity with the audience and establishes you as a reliable entity.

Visual branding elements in presentation design

Visual branding creates a distinct image that is recognizable in the audience’s minds. There are many visual branding elements that you can weave into your slides; here are the most common:

Color palette

The use of the brand’s color palette isn’t merely an aesthetic choice; it’s a strategic one. Colors can play with an audience’s emotions and sensibilities. When used cleverly, utilizing your brand’s colors would play into your audience’s sensibilities and let them resonate with you on a deeper level. Moreover, incorporating a brand’s colors is important for maintaining a cohesive look that guarantees a perceptible identity. Not to mention, while weaving in your color palette, maintaining balance is crucial to ensuring a harmonious and soothing experience for viewers.

Typography and font choices

Often overlooked, typography and font selection showcase the fashionable side of a brand and quite literally make a statement. When choosing a font, it’s important to balance readability and the overall brand identity. Opt for fonts that prioritize readability and are easy on the eyes; a little style doesn’t hurt. And don’t be afraid to mix and match font pairings that complement each other, which makes for an engaging and pleasant experience for readers.

Images and icons

We often emphasize how visuals tend to be that crucial element that takes any presentation from great to unforgettable. With brand-aligned visuals, you can reflect your brand’s core aesthetic in an exciting way. When curating images and visuals, choose examples that resonate with the brand’s core message. Similarly, any branded icons, graphics, and templates are distinctive elements that serve your brand’s image, so incorporate them into your slides. All these elements reinforce your brand’s identity in your audience’s mind and contribute to the visual narrative you’re telling.

Logo placement

It goes without saying that a branded presentation must include your logo. It is, after all, the fundamental symbol that represents your brand. Which is also why you might be tempted to slap it on everywhere you could and flaunt it, but it’s important to restrain yourself and maintain a balanced approach. The way you choose to display your logo comes down to how you’d like to represent yourself. A corner placement is elegant and subtle while positioning it right in the center is bold and audacious. Regardless of how you choose, it is necessary to incorporate the logo in a prominent position throughout your presentation to bolster your brand’s identity.

Content branding in presentations

As we mentioned earlier, branding goes beyond the visual aspects. The content you share is another essential way to reflect your brand’s voice and essence. Here are the most common ways to use content:

Maintaining a brand voice

Keeping a consistent voice throughout your presentation is vital. That brand personality we touched on should be echoed in every slide and sentence. The content’s tone should align with the brand’s personality and ethos, whether you are sharing deep research or simple, informative tidbits. When crafting messages to line up with your brand’s values, every word counts; they should be smooth and intentional. The tone of the presentation should mirror the language used in other marketing materials and other communication channels to maintain a unified personality.

Storytelling and brand narrative

Every audience member has an inclination toward a good story. Building a compelling narrative and slipping in your brand’s unique journey makes for an engaging and unforgettable presentation story. You could also add confirmation of your brand’s milestones through case studies and success stories that suggest relatable beneficiaries. Basically, stories that reflect and demonstrate the brand’s ethos create a deeper connection with the audience and leave them with a powerful impression.

Consistency is key

When crafting an impactful branded presentation, consistency is king. The idea of “less is more” especially applies when communicating a vital message, as you don’t want the audience to get lost in the clutter. Threading a consistent strand of layout and design enhances the message’s clarity and the presentation’s polished look. Using a brand-aligned template is a common strategy for achieving uniformity across slides. This uniformity is necessary to amplify the presentation’s professionalism and sophistication.

And since brands are living entities like the people behind them, they will naturally evolve and grow over time, and updating the slides to mirror that evolution becomes crucial to guarantee that the brand’s messaging is always resonant and fresh. Additionally, considering our digital age, the presentation’s platform, whether on a boardroom screen or over a Zoom call, shapes how it will be perceived. Adapting the presentation to the platform ensures that the brand’s representation remains consistent.

Remember, when presenting, you aren’t just sharing data or prospects; you share a brand’s soul. From using the right visual elements and tone of voice to shaping strong content, every detail matters when developing a presentation that adequately represents your brand. Maintaining consistency throughout your slides is another important detail that influences how your brand is perceived, establishing you as a reliable and trustworthy source.