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Contrast checker - Great slides need more than great colours. They need contrast! Use a contrast checker to make sure your text is clear, readable and accessible to everyone. A simple check that can make a big difference to your presentation design.

You can follow Emma on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-birdboxdesigns/
Website: http://www.birdboxdesigns.com

If you want to set yourself apart from the rest, make sure you are using smart quotes in all of you communications. Using the correct apostrophes shows you know waht good looks like and most importantly, that you care. Attention to detail is where the magic happens.

You can follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andybundock/

Website: http://andybundock.com

Take a tip from someone with 24M views — Brené Brown. Your message delivers more bang for your buck than your slides. Take the time to craft a story that lands.

You can follow PK on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pksteffen

Website: PKdigital.net

Claude and Gemini can now copy your deck's style from one file. But can they do the thinking that wins the room?

We tore up the schedule for this one. Last episode we broke down Microsoft Copilot for PowerPoint. If you thought the AI presentation wars would settle down, think again. This episode we test how well Claude Slides and Gemini in Google Slides match an existing deck's style, as they make their bids for your presentation workflow. The craft is catching up fast. The thinking is not.

What we cover:
- Gemini in Google Slides: "match presentation style" from a reference deck
- Claude Slides: turning an existing deck into a new editable PowerPoint
- Is the skills file and brand kit era over?
- Good in, good out. These tools don't design, they copy your homework.
- Animations, custom fonts and licensing
- Template decay: what happens when AI copies a copy of a copy
- Why the thinking before the build still decides whether a deck wins

Timestamps
00:00 Intro
04:33 Test driving Google Slides and Claude Slides
06:03 Google Slides
07:54 User Experiences and Outcomes
11:39 Limitations and Future of AI in Presentations
16:44 Exploring Font Uploads and Licensing Issues
18:48 Creating Presentations with Claude Slides
25:32 Another test deck
31:24 The Role of AI in Crafting Narratives
36:39 Understanding the Limitations of AI
39:21 AI gets 80%: check the results
47:07 The Importance of Critical Thinking in Presentation Design
51:40 AI in Presentation Design: A Double-Edged Sword
52:47 Speed vs. quality
56:31 Final Thoughts on Presentation Design and AI

Resources
Gemini in Google Slides - https://slides.new
Claude Slides - https://claude.ai
Meet Claude Slides, Claude Design and Claude Docs - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To5nrYqvR44

Listen, follow, and subscribe!

Got a presentation challenge, story, or question?
We'd love to hear it. Share your thoughts and ideas, and let us know what topics you'd like us to tackle in future episodes through our LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nxtsldpls/

Follow your hosts
Emma Pritchard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-birdboxdesigns/
Andy Bundock: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andybundock/
PK Steffen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pksteffen/
Mark Robson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sixmileshigh/

Microsoft says Copilot's new brand kit will finally keep every deck on-brand. Here's what we think.

Copilot's new Brand Kit and custom skills including interactive slides, promise to fix two of PowerPoint's oldest headaches: decks that never match, and prompting that never quite gets you there. We share first impressions and what it means for designers and non-designers. The verdict: Microsoft's finally catching up, and it's worth watching closely, but for now, a good designer with a good template still wins.

Takeaways

1. Brand kits promise every team member's deck will finally match, but Copilot's first pass still fumbles and needs a lot of information.
2. Audience-led interactivity looks flashy, but clients aren't asking for it; hidden slides and triggers already do the job better.
3. Knowing exactly what you want to say still builds a better deck, faster AI.
   

Timestamps

01:22 Interactive Slides

05:23 User Experience and Prompts

10:01 Presenter's control

15:55 Grumpy Perspectives on Interactivity

19:54 HTML and Analytics in Presentations

25:09 The Evolution of Copilot and Its Versions

28:38 Understanding Brand Kits and Guidelines

33:00 Navigating the Challenges of Template Integration

38:30 The Future of Brand Management with AI

42:54 Skills as Currency

52:29 Summary

Resources

Copilot in PowerPoint - https://powerpoint.cloud.microsoft/create/en/copilot-in-powerpoint/

Demo videos - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNR8Atp8-v0, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn5oZW6xhxg, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAZNzZxOU5Y 

Canva Brand Kit - https://www.canva.com/pro/brand-kit/ 

Gamma - https://gamma.app/ 

Prezi - https://prezi.com/ 

Google AI Studio - https://aistudio.google.com/

Host links

PK Steffen - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pksteffen/ Website: pkdigital.net 

Emma Pritchard - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-birdboxdesigns Website: birdboxdesigns.com 

Andy Bundock - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andybundock/ Website: andybundock.com 

Mark Robson - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sixmileshigh Website: sixmileshigh.com 

Microsoft says Copilot's new brand kit will finally keep every deck on-brand. Here's what we think:
Copilot's new Brand Kit and custom skills including interactive slides, promise to fix two of PowerPoint's oldest headaches: decks that never match, and prompting that never quite gets you there. Andy, Emma, Mark and PK share their first impressions and what it means for designers and non-designers. The verdict: Microsoft's finally catching up, and it's worth watching closely, but for now, a designer with a good template still wins.

Key takeaways

1. Consistency builds trust, but the tech isn't quite there — brand kits promise every team member's deck will finally match, but Copilot's first pass still fumbles and needs a lot of information.
2. Presenters want control, not choice — audience-led interactivity looks flashy, but nobody's actually asking clients for it; hidden slides and triggers already do the job better.
3. Front-loading beats prompting — knowing exactly what you want to say still builds a better deck, faster, than wrestling an AI through endless revisions.

Timestamps

01:22 Exploring Interactive Slides

05:23 User Experience and Prompts

10:01 Presenter's control

15:55 Grumpy Perspectives on Interactivity

19:54 HTML and Analytics in Presentations

25:09 The Evolution of Copilot and Its Versions

28:38 Understanding Brand Kits and Guidelines

33:00 Navigating the Challenges of Template Integration

38:30 The Future of Brand Management with AI

42:54 Skills as Currency in the Evolving Workplace

52:29 Summing up

Resources

Copilot in PowerPoint https://powerpoint.cloud.microsoft/create/en/copilot-in-powerpoint/

Copilot in PowerPoint demo videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNR8Atp8-v0, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn5oZW6xhxg, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAZNzZxOU5Y 

Canva Brand Kit https://www.canva.com/pro/brand-kit/ 

Gamma https://gamma.app/ 

Prezi https://prezi.com/ 

Google AI Studio https://aistudio.google.com/

Got a presentation challenge, story? 

Share your thoughts and ideas, and let us know what topics you'd like us to tackle in future episodes: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nxtsldpls/ 
Host links
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pksteffen/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-birdboxdesigns
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andybundock/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sixmileshigh

Two presentation designers, two very different routes in. Courtney Allen built 16x9 from a freelance side hustle into a multi-million dollar agency. Dekishea Gordon stumbled into presentation design on a freelancing platform and realised it was actually a career. In this episode, both guests join us to talk about the profession honestly - how they got in, what they've learned, and where it's going.

We get into building a business, trusting a team, mentorship and community, and why reaching out to someone you admire (prepared, with a portfolio) can change the entire course of your career. We talk about what communication and storytelling skills give you that a design background alone doesn't. There's an insider look at the Microsoft PowerPoint templates most of us use every day as well as how templates and AI are intersecting right now, what that means for in-house designers and agencies alike, and why both guests think the role is shifting towards strategic communication rather than production.

Timestamps

00:27 The Power of Storytelling in Presentations

02:24 Mentorship and Community in Presentation Design

06:07 The Role of Women in Presentation Design

10:06 Accidental Entrepreneurship and Business Growth

12:43 Remote Work and Global Nomadism

14:23 The Importance of Communication and Storytelling

20:22 Inside Microsoft PowerPoint Templates

24:48 Templates and AI in Presentation Design

35:29 The Joy of Presentation Design

39:34 Building Trust in Team Dynamics

42:48 Navigating Challenges in Presentation Design

47:20 Freelancing and Career Development

54:26 Advice for Aspiring Presentation Designers

Links & Resources

Courtney Allen https://www.linkedin.com/in/couallen/ 

16x9 Design https://www.16x9design.com/ 

Dekishea Gordon https://www.linkedin.com/in/dekisheag/ 

The Presentation Guild https://presentationguild.org/ 

Templify https://www.templafy.com/ 

Upwork https://www.upwork.com 

Yuno Juno https://www.yunojuno.com/ 

Episode runtime: ~57 minutes

Guests: Courtney Allen, Founder, 16x9 and Dekishea Gordon Presentation Designer, OneRail

Hosts: Emma Pritchard, PK Steffen, Mark Robson,
Andy Bundock is on holiday

Got a presentation challenge, story, or question? 

Share your thoughts and ideas, and let us know what topics you'd like us to tackle in future on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nxtsldpls/ 

PK leads the team through the art and science of storytelling in presentations - from cave paintings to storyboards, from Aristotle's 3 act structure to a simple beginning-middle-end approach. We get into why conflict is your friend, why structure is story, and why the single biggest mistake most presenters make is putting too much in rather than not enough.

Timestamps

01:10 The Power of Storytelling in Presentations

06:31 Crafting Compelling Narratives

12:25 Lessons from Classic Stories

17:47 Emotional Engagement in Storytelling

22:59 Structuring Your Presentation for Impact

28:37 Frameworks & Techniques for Effective Storytelling

39:25 The Power of Storyboarding in Presentations

49:06 Changing Mindsets Around Storytelling

53:22 Using Visuals to Enhance Storytelling

Links & Resources

The Storytelling Animal — Jonathan Gottschall https://www.jonathangottschall.com/storytelling-animal 

The Jelly Effect — Andy Bounds (andybounds.com) https://andybounds.com/resources/ 

Show and Tell — Dan Roam https://www.danroam.com/ 

Illuminate — Nancy Duarte https://www.duarte.com/resources/books/illuminate/ 

The Science of Storytelling — Will Storr https://www.thescienceofstorytelling.com/ 

Say it Well - Terry Szuplat (Obama's speech writer) https://www.terryszuplat.com/ 

Kurt Vonnegut's Story of Cinderella
https://youtu.be/oP3c1h8v2ZQ?si=SydFylwNzvFzKLP1

Paul Schrader on screenwriting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NhSZ6RTQgk

Into the Woods - John Yorke https://www.johnyorkestory.com/about/the-book/

Episode runtime: ~65 mins

Hosts: PK Steffen, Emma Pritchard, Andy Bundock, Mark Robson

Got a presentation challenge, story, or question? 

https://www.linkedin.com/company/nxtsldpls/ 

Follow your hosts

PK Steffen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pksteffen/

Emma Pritchard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-birdboxdesigns/ 

Andy Bundock: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andybundock/ 

Mark Robson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sixmileshigh/

What happens when four presentation designers stop talking about best practice and start telling the truth? This episode. No guests, no agenda, no carefully constructed takeaways. Just PK, Andy, Mark, and Emma answering questions they didn't see coming.

From the fastest deck ever built (37 minutes, and yes there's a video) to the chaos of fixing slides mid-event while your team is in the hotel bar. From 300-template systems nobody uses, to the one thing every presenter actually needs. Plus: bouncing charts, Scott from sales, the Kano build, a story about Andy getting fired after hitting 300% of target, and Dave.

If you've ever wondered what presentation designers really think when the client isn't in the room, this is the episode.

Timestamps

03:51 Round 1: least or most

16:13 Round 2: Best and worst vibes

29:14 Round 3: Trade secrets

42:15 Round 4: Quick-fire round

Episode runtime: ~75 minutes

Hosts: PK Steffen, Emma Pritchard, Andy Bundock, Mark Robson

Links & Resources

Present to Succeed Conference: https://www.presenttosucceed.co.uk/ 

BrightSlide add-in for PowerPoint: https://www.brightcarbon.com/brightslide/

Got a presentation challenge, story, or question? 

We'd love to hear it. Share your thoughts and ideas, and let us know what topics you'd like us to tackle in future episodes through our LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nxtsldpls/ 

Follow your hosts

Mark Robson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sixmileshigh/ 

Emma Pritchard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-birdboxdesigns/ 

Andy Bundock: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andybundock/ 

PK Steffen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pksteffen/ 

Fonts. You use them every day, you judge them before you've read a word, and yet most of us have never thought too hard about why they matter. In this episode, we do.

We get into the history of fonts (yes, there's a difference between a font and a typeface, and yes, it's mildly pedantic), the psychology of why the wrong font on a serious deck immediately feels off, and how to find the right one when you don't have a brand police officer breathing down your neck.

We run through how PowerPoint, Google Slides, Canva and Keynote each handle fonts differently, why those differences matter more than you'd think, and what can go wrong the moment you share a deck with someone else. Andy shares his font test method, PK makes the case for playing it safe, Emma reminds us that every font is doing psychological work and Mark explains why you should always set the typeface in your theme but never the weight.

Whether you're locked into a corporate brand kit or starting from a blank slide, this one will change how you look at every presentation you build from here.

Episode runtime: ~32 minutes

Hosts: Mark Robson, PK Steffen, Emma Pritchard, Andy Bundock

Timestamps

00:27 Introduction

02:51 History of fonts

04:47 Choosing a font

08:10 Working with fonts in different software

19:56 Good to Great - Theme fonts on PC and Mac

23:47 Recap of Tools and Resources

26:26 Final Thoughts

Links & Resources

What the Font: www.myfonts.com/pages/whatthefont/ 

Google fonts: fonts.google.com 

Wordmark: wordmark.it

Julie Terberg - Choosing Fonts for PowerPoint Whitepaper: designtopresent.com 

BrightSlide by BrightCarbon: www.brightcarbon.com/brightslide/

Font pairings: Fontpairs.co 

Typewolf: www.typewolf.com 

Slidewise by Neuxpower: https://neuxpower.com/slidewise-powerpoint-add-in