Keynote Presentation Tips
9 minutes read
For many people, presentations are overwhelming. They struggle with the delivery or design of the slides, and the result is a mess that bores audiences.
But with a few proper Keynote tips, you can deliver a successful Keynote presentation that wows the audience!
Taking cues from Apple’s iconic production introductions, we can learn a lot about how to use Keynote to make great presentations. In this tutorial, we’ll check out top tips for how to build Keynote presentations.
15 Top Tips for Keynote Presentations
Every presenter can benefit from these Keynote presentation tips. Each of the 15 tips below will help you improve your delivery or the Keynote slides visuals you share. In either case, they’re sure to enhance your Mac Keynote presentation.
1. Borrow From Apple Presentations With Built-in Themes
If you’re looking to capture the spirit of the well-known, minimalist Apple presentations that Steve Jobs made famous, try out the built-in themes. The base for any Keynote is the theme. It controls the fonts, color scheme, and more. When choosing a theme, stick to the simple ones that showcase your content without distractions, such as the minimalist Apple presentation styles included.
To select a theme and get started on crafting your Keynote, open the Keynote application and go to File > New or press the Command+N keys. Apple provides dozens of ready-made presets for use. Choose between Standard and Wide based on the format of the screen that you’ll present on.
However, this isn’t the only way to style your presentation. We’ll talk more about using premium Keynote design templates in a tip below, but here’s a sneak preview of 19 of the best options:
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35 Modern Keynote Templates to Create Beautiful Presentation Designs 2024
Dacia Egurrola 14 Apr 2023
2. Use and Format Text Carefully
The basis for most Keynote presentations is text that explains your points. However, text in Keynote slides is a double-edged sword: essential for explanation, but it must be used sparingly. Presentation experts recommend no more than four or five words per bullet point, and only four or five bullet points per slide.
Ultimately, use as few words as possible to present your information. Keynotes loaded with text will bore and overwhelm your audience. Speaking points should serve as the basis for most presentations.
The Mac Keynote presentation reinforces your main ideas and structure, communicating visually when needed. Bullet points act as prompts for ideas on which you can expand.
Consistency in font use is also very important. Choose one or two fonts and stick with them throughout. Use consistent font sizes in certain areas, and you’ll create a uniform presentation.
Color is key to presenting text effectively. Use black or dark grey for most of your text. For lines or headers you want to accent, use a color that fits with your theme to ensure your text is smoothly integrated into your Keynote presentation.
3. Present Data With Graphs and Charts
Keynote has incredible three-dimensional charts and graphs. When you have data sets to communicate, don’t hesitate to dive into these tools and create beautiful visuals. Generally, pie charts are used for percentages, bar graphs for comparisons, and line charts for trends over time.
Charts are essential for presenting data clearly. Instead of overwhelming your audience with lists and numbers, opt for charts that provide a visual representation of your information.
To create one of these visuals in Keynote, go to Insert > Chart and select the appropriate chart type. Enter your data to start building visual stories for your key metrics.
4. Use Animations Wisely
Animations are Keynote effects that bring objects onto or off of a slide. They’re perfect for adding impact while speaking. Add them from the Animate menu.
To apply an animation, select an object, then click Add an Effect from the menu. Choose an animation effect from the drop-down.
Ensure you use animations sparingly and keep transition times minimal. Only utilize movement-based transitions for elements you want to accent. The goal is to animate objects with proper timing to support your speaking points.
Make sure to check out this full guide that shows you how to use Keynote animations:
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How to Add Animations in Apple Keynote (Complete Guide)
Andrew Childress 01 Oct 2018
5. Plan for the Presentation
Keynote includes great functionality to enhance your speaking during your presentation. With Keynote for iOS, you can use your device as a remote for your presentation.
Keynote also has a Presenter Notes section. For each slide, you can add detailed notes about what you’ll speak to align with what’s on the screen. This could include your outline, facts, statistics, and keywords. To view and edit presenter notes, go to View > Show Presenter Notes.
Best of all? You’ll see your Presenter Notes while using Keynote for iOS on your device, making it a useful tool for your speaking cues.
6. Use Flowcharts to Show Processes
Avoid text-heavy slides, as they can lose your audience’s attention. For step-by-step processes, use a flowchart instead of lengthy descriptions.
Flowcharts in a Keynote presentation can effectively map out a project, show the history of events, or explain a business process.
Check out the tutorial below for a complete guide to flowcharts:
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How to Make Flowcharts & Gantt Charts in Keynote With Templates
Andrew Childress 04 Aug 2023
7. Tell Stories With Timelines
A timeline is a powerful storytelling tool that helps your audience connect the past to the present and relate events. Using a timeline can help craft the history of events that lead to the present or even into the future.
Learn how to use a timeline in your next Keynote presentation with this tutorial:
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How to Quickly Make a Timeline in Keynote With Templates
Andrew Childress 25 Apr 2023
8. Use Templates as a Keynote Design Headstart
Earlier in this tutorial, we reviewed built-in Keynote templates. However, you can also use pre-built templates from professionals. Utilizing these templates saves time and provides you with numerous visual ideas for your presentations.
Two great options for sourcing Keynote presentation templates are Envato Elements and Envato Market. Elements offers an all-you-can-download option for Keynote templates, while Envato Market allows you to purchase templates individually.
If you want to see round-ups with the best templates from each marketplace, check out the Apple Keynote presentation examples below:
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35 Modern Keynote Templates to Create Beautiful Presentation Designs 2024
Dacia Egurrola 14 Apr 2023
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30+ Premium Mac Keynote Presentation Templates to Download in 2024
Dacia Egurrola 06 Oct 2023
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How to Make a Great Presentation in Keynote With Template Designs
Sven Lenaerts 28 May 2021
9. Grab the Audience’s Attention With Each Slide Change
A strong opening will grab the audience’s attention at the outset of your Keynote presentation. However, it’s also important to re-establish attention and interest with each slide change.
One effective way to do this is to use Magic Move, a Keynote presentation transition effect that links slides together. This Apple Keynote presentation tip will help refocus attention on each slide change:
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Keynote Magic Move: How to Use Slide Transition Effects
Andrew Childress 19 Sep 2018
10. Revisit Your Slide Sequencing
Just as writers must ensure their content is organized logically, presenters should also consider the order of their slides. Reordering your Keynote slides can help convey your message more effectively.
One of my top tips is to use Light Table View to accomplish this. Go to View > Light Table to see all slides in a top-down view. Drag and drop the thumbnails into a new order to rearrange your presentation.
When using Keynote’s Light Table View, you gain a comprehensive view of your presentation, aiding in message cohesion.
11. Make Your Keynote Presentation Shareable
You may need to share your presentation with others, particularly since Keynote isn’t the most widely used presentation software. Converting your presentation to more popular formats is helpful.
For a Keynote tip on converting to formats like PowerPoint and PDF, check out this tutorial:
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How to Convert Keynote to PowerPoint (PDF, & More) on Export (+Video)
Andrew Childress 27 Jan 2023
12. Add More Visuals to Your Keynote Presentation
Audiences now expect visual-heavy presentations. Enhance your Keynote presentation with images, video clips, and graphics to add variety to your slides.
Using Envato Elements provides access to stock imagery and graphics along with Keynote templates, allowing you to bring your presentation to life.
Check out the tutorials below for a complete guide to working with images and video in Keynote:
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How to Add Pictures & Backgrounds in Keynote Presentations
Andrew Childress 16 Jul 2018
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How to Add Video & Music Files in Keynote Presentations
Andrew Childress 05 Sep 2018
13. Accommodate Your Audience with Keynote Live
To accommodate your audience, consider arrangements that allow as many people as possible to join your presentation. Keynote Live enables you to broadcast your presentation online, bringing everyone together to hear your message.
Check out the full tutorial below to learn how your Keynote presentation can reach any audience:
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How to Use Apple Keynote Live to Stream Presentations on the Web
Andrew Childress 17 Oct 2018
14. Master the Art of Keynote Layouts
Understanding your way around the app is crucial for working quickly and reallocating your time to research and preparation. Check out the article below to maximize your usage of Keynote slide layouts:
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How to Use Keynote Slides (Layout Dimensions, Sizes, & Design)
Andrew Childress 04 May 2021
15. Align the Presentation Style With Your Purpose
Your presentation should align with its purpose. Customize each slide deck for the message, ensuring visuals match the topic.
Using topic-specific Keynote templates from libraries like Envato Elements and Envato Market provides thousands of tailored templates for practically any purpose.
An example of this is pitch deck templates, which have specific elements audiences expect. Learn more about this presentation format below:
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25+ Best Keynote Pitch Deck Templates (Business Pitch Deck Designs 2024)
Andrew Childress 21 Feb 2024
Make a Great Keynote Presentation Today
Now you know how to create great Keynote presentations: from using theme settings to working with text and graphics professionally, to applying simple animation and more.
With these 15 Apple Keynote presentation tips, putting together memorable presentations in Keynote becomes a breeze. Ultimately, make your presentation something you’d want to watch. Remember that a Keynote presentation is designed to reinforce your delivery rather than substitute it.