Create a Great Presentation with Keynote Templates
12 minutes read
Keynote templates can save time to design excellent presentations.
In this tutorial, we’ll explore how to create a great presentation using a Keynote template. You’ll learn how to design your presentation to look sharp and be ready for a room full of clients or investors quickly!
This post is part of a series called How to Use Apple Keynote (Ultimate Tutorial Guide).
- How to Create a Basic Keynote Presentation (On Your Mac)
- How to Use Keynote Slides (Layout Dimensions, Sizes, & Design)
Getting Started with Keynote Templates
Learn to use a Keynote presentation template to build your own supporting slides. You’ll choose a starting template and customize it to match your design vision.
Keynote presentation templates save time. They provide a quick start on creating a compelling presentation by offering various layouts, elements, and ideas to use effectively.
We’ll look at two options for choosing the best Keynote presentation templates. You will see top slide designs from Envato Elements (an all-you-can-download Keynote presentation service) and the best Keynote presentations from GraphicRiver (pay-as-you-go templates).
No matter which service you choose, you will discover how easy it can be to customize a presentation. Let’s dive in!
Creating a Keynote Presentation with Envato Elements
In this section, we’ll feature a Keynote template available for download from Envato Elements. Elements is a service that many creatives use to learn how to produce a professional Keynote presentation. By starting with Keynote templates, you have a shortcut to success.
Elements offers an all-you-can-download approach to creative work. One subscription provides access to stock photos, graphics, icons, and more. Best of all, it offers over 3,000 Keynote presentation templates that can save you hours of design work.
Even if this specific template isn’t your style, this walkthrough highlights how straightforward it is to create a Keynote presentation. You’ll learn how to make a good Keynote presentation, even if you’re new to the app.
Step 1: Choose a Template
Because Envato Elements features over 19,000 Keynote templates, it helps to have a guide to the best choices.
For this tutorial, I will work with BePro, one of the templates included with Elements. BePro is a versatile “general purpose” template that can be used for many types of presentations. If you’re learning how to create a professional Keynote presentation, this is a great choice.
Start searching Elements for keywords that align with your Keynote presentation idea. With such a vast library, you can search for specific terms that match your needs.
For a selection of my favorite Keynote templates, check out the roundup below:
Once you find your template, download it and open it in Keynote. You’ll find hundreds of presentation designs with the design work completed.
Step 2: Edit Slide Masters as Needed
The slide master controls many slides simultaneously. Editing the slide master allows you to adjust multiple slides at the same time.
You’ll want to edit a slide master to add “common elements” featured on multiple slides. For example, adding a logo to the slide master will place that logo in the same position on each slide that uses the master.
To edit a slide master, click on the View button and choose Edit Master Slides. You’ll then access a screen where you can modify the slide master elements.
When you’re finished, return to the View menu and select a standard view like Navigator. You’ll see any slides that use the master updated with your changes.
Step 3: Choose Your Key Slides
Most Keynote presentation templates include more slides than you’ll actually use. This is fine, as having too many slide designs for inspiration is better than not enough.
Importantly, you should write your presentation first. That means having at least a basic structure in mind. This will help you select the presentation designs that best fit your concept.
At this stage, I typically start working in Light Table view to get a “top-down” view of all the slides in the deck. Access that view by selecting View > Light Table.
As you select the slide designs you want to keep, click on the thumbnails and press Delete. You can also drag-and-drop slides into the sequence you prefer.
I usually start moving the slides I plan to use to the beginning of the presentation. I don’t delete any slides until I finish designing my Keynote presentation, as I may want to use them later. Building a presentation is a process, and keeping the flexibility of all available slides is essential.
Step 4: Add Content
Now that you’ve narrowed down your choices to the presentation designs you’ll use, it’s time to add your content. If you’re still in Light Table view, double-click on a slide thumbnail to start editing.
Every slide will operate differently, but the process remains the same. Click in the content placeholders, and add your content by typing or browsing for images and selecting them.
Step 5: Add Animations & Effects
Let’s add the finishing touches to our Keynote presentation. Including eye-catching effects can help capture your audience’s attention. Using a few tasteful animations will make your presentation memorable.
To add an animation, click on an object and select Animate from the toolbar. Then, click on Add an Effect and choose an animation effect to add it to the selected object.
Reserve animations for your key points. Focus on major reveals or use them to stage in bullet points that build towards a central idea.
For a comprehensive guide on adding animation to your Keynote presentation, be sure to check out the guide below:
That’s it! Learning how to make a professional Keynote presentation is an easy process. Just download Keynote templates and add your content. Before you know it, you’ll have created your best Keynote presentation yet.
Building Keynote Presentations with GraphicRiver
If you’re a decisive creative, GraphicRiver might be the best choice for your next Keynote presentation. It’s a pay-as-you-go marketplace, meaning you can purchase Keynote templates individually.
GraphicRiver templates offer the same customization options as the examples seen earlier. For this tutorial, we’ll work with the Start Business Keynote template, one of the thousands of templates available at a low cost on GraphicRiver.
Defining Your Presentation Objectives and Opportunities
Our first step is identifying both the objective and the opportunity of the presentation.
- The objective is what you ultimately want to achieve with your presentation. For our example, it’s selling design services.
- The opportunity is about presenting the value to your audience. If there’s no value in your pitch, there’s no point in presenting.
For the design agency, the opportunity I want to present is that investing in design yields returns, as people value good design. My goal is to persuade the audience to become clients.
Specifying Your Content
The next step is specifying the content of your presentation, which should align with your objective. This often means clearly presenting the opportunity—making it crystal clear for your audience.
In my presentation, I want to showcase how good design pays off. Some content ideas I’ve brainstormed include:
- Design case studies (to promote our capabilities)
- Our design process (to explain how we achieve results)
- Previous clients (to build trust)
- The team (to add a personal touch)
- Pricing (to further the objective of selling design services)
This content serves as inspiration for slides in your presentation.
It’s crucial to decide on your content before you start designing. This approach prevents the design process from distracting you from your goals. By establishing your objectives and opportunities, you can maintain a well-structured presentation.
Choosing the Right Theme
Now we can focus on design. First, we need to select the right presentation theme, which is a personal choice. The theme you choose depends on your brand, objectives, content, and personal taste.
On GraphicRiver, you can find presentation template design choices for Keynote, PowerPoint, and Google Slides.
I’ve selected the Start theme for this tutorial. It feels elegant and provides enough visual flexibility to present design services.
Once you’ve chosen your theme, it’s time to start customizing.
Customizing Your Presentation Template
When you open a design template, you’ll find numerous slides ready for use. First, go to File in the menu bar and choose Duplicate to separate the template from your working document. Rename the presentation accordingly to keep the template intact.
Before customizing your template, follow these steps:
- Review the content you have in mind. What type of slides do you need? How should these slides be structured?
- Based on the content, select the slides necessary for your presentation. Some Keynote templates use master slides (click on Add Slide to see the available options), while others have all slide designs directly in the presentation. For the Start template, the designer opted for the latter.
- Choose the slides you’ll use based on your content and remove the rest. Now you have a clear idea of how your presentation will appear.
Personally, I always select multiple suitable slides and copy them to my working document, removing others as I finalize the presentation.
Note: If you’re following along using the template for this tutorial, I selected the light version and added slide numbers to facilitate your progress.
Step 1: Introduction Slide
Let’s start with the introduction slide. I’ve picked slide 57 from the template design.
To begin, change the text. Click on any text field in the slide to edit the copy. Consider also changing the fonts to something that matches your brand.
I updated the slide copy and selected a different font. For this example, I used Roboto Slab for the title font and Fira Sans for the body font.
Notice the image placeholder. I’ll drag in an example of my design work to replace the placeholder and complete the slide.
You can see how simple it is to customize a slide. Typically, adjusting text, fonts, images, and colors goes a long way in customizing slide templates.
I recommend first deciding on your content, then determining the structure of your presentation, followed by customization. This is the most efficient workflow.
Step 2: Case Study Slide
After the introduction slide, the next slide in our presentation is the case study slide. I’ve selected slide 17 as a suitable option.
This Keynote slide design was originally intended to showcase a company’s mission. Templates allow for repurposing slides, so I’ll use this layout to present a case study instead.
As before, I’ll change the imagery and typography to redesign the slide while retaining the original structure.
With a few minor adjustments and added content, I’ve transformed this slide into a case study.
Step 3: Design Process Slide
Once the case study is presented, we’ll move on to our design process. For this, I’ve selected Slide 19 from the Start Keynote template.
As with the previous slide, I’ll repurpose this design to illustrate the design process. The slide uses iconography. To enhance visualization, I’ll change the icons.
As shown, I modified the typography, content, and icons to adapt the slide. Here are the results:
Step 4: Team Slide
While some slides require extensive customization, others are straightforward. For the team slide, simply update the names and bios, and add photos. I’ve picked Slide 51 for this presentation, although slides 52 through 55 could work as well.
Before customization:
After customization:
Here’s the finished team slide. (Sample profile photos from Unsplash.com.)
Step 5: Pricing Slide
You can also be more adventurous with your slides and alter the structure. For the final slide, I’ve decided to use Slide 49 from the template.
Let’s say we offer three products; this means we can remove one pricing option. We also don’t need a call-to-action on the pricing slide, so we can eliminate that as well.
Feel free to tweak the structure of a slide according to your needs. A template can serve as inspiration for a custom-designed slide.
Completed Keynote Presentation
We’ve successfully customized our presentation using a template.
Final Thoughts
Here are some essential takeaways:
- Start by defining your objectives and opportunities.
- Choose content and transform it into presentable slides.
- Select a theme that aligns with your needs.
- Leverage typography to create a unique look and feel.
- Use photography and iconography to enhance presentation appeal.
- Edit template slides and modify their structure as necessary.
The most crucial takeaway is that a presentation template is a shortcut. There’s no right or wrong way to use a Keynote template—experiment and see what you can create.
Quick Keynote Presentation Tips
Keynote templates help you make a lasting impression while saving time by taking the hard work out of designing presentations from scratch. Keep these quick tips in mind to ensure success:
1. Be Specific
To make your Keynote presentation stand out, be specific in your theme. For instance, if you’re presenting a construction project, select a construction-themed template. This approach provides design inspiration and helps you build a winning presentation quickly.
2. Animate Slides
Animations help create smooth transitions in your Keynote presentation. Many premium templates come pre-animated, but you can also customize animations within the app. For guidance, check out the full tutorial on Keynote animation:
3. Keep Slides Readable
Always consider your audience and venue. In larger rooms, ensure your slides have larger fonts and are uncluttered for better readability.
Readable slides share common themes: larger fonts and ample open space, allowing your content to breathe and making it easier for audiences to see.
4. Style with Kinetic Typography
Remember that text is a design element. By animating text, you can captivate audiences with content already on your slides! Kinetic typography adds a stylish touch to any slide, and it’s simple to implement in Keynote. Learn how with our tutorial:
5. Illustrate Heavily
An illustrated Keynote presentation has many advantages:
- It looks better.
- It keeps the narrative engaging.
- It helps avoid cluttered slides.
Premium Keynote templates make adding images easy. With pre-built placeholders, you can drag and drop photos onto your slides, creating compelling visuals in seconds.
Explore Premium Keynote Presentation Templates!
Customizing a Keynote template is straightforward. If you’re looking for excellent templates to start from, check out some of our favorites:
- 35 Best Keynote Presentation Templates (Designs For Mac Users 2024)
- 30 Animated Keynote Templates to Make Cool Captivating Presentations in 2024
- 25+ Best Keynote Pitch Deck Templates (Business Pitch Deck Designs 2024)
Alternatively, visit GraphicRiver to browse through hundreds of professional Keynote templates and find the right design for your upcoming presentation needs.