Design tips for PowerPoint

5. Use colour well

Colour evokes feelings. Colour is emotional. The right colour can help persuade and motivate. Studies show that colour usage can increase interest and improve learning comprehension and retention.

You do not need to be an expert in colour theory, but it’s good for business professionals to know at least a bit on. Colours can be divided into two general categories: Cool (such as blue and green) and Warm (such as orange and red). Cool colours work best for backgrounds as they appear to recede away from us into the background. Warm colours generally work best for objects in the foreground (such as text) because they appear to be coming at us. It is no surprise, then, that the most universal PowerPoint slide colour scheme includes a blue background with yellow text. You do not need to feel compelled to use this colour scheme, though you may choose to use a variation of those colours.