The Design + PowerPoint Summit 2023

NOTE: The following is from the 2023 event. To see details on our 2024 event, click here.

Join us online February 16–17, 2023 for the 2nd annual Design + PowerPoint Summit, the essential HOW-TO event for designers who need to build successful slide decks, interactive experiences, and presentation graphics.


The world of presentation design is evolving, and The Design + PowerPoint Summit was created to help you stay ahead of the ever changing landscape. Join some of the world’s most knowledgeable experts on presentation design as they share their wisdom, tips, and techniques. 


Whether you are struggling with PowerPoint or you’re a longtime presentation designer, if you want to take your skills to the next level, this is one event you can’t afford to miss.

  • Why PowerPoint can actually beat Adobe apps
  • Essential PowerPoint tips and tricks
  • How to be ready for that “pls fix, thx” note!
  • What to do when you’ve been asked to use Google Slides
  • New tools and features (this is no longer the old PowerPoint you remember!)
  • Quick tricks that make your presentations pop
  • PowerPoint masters that actually work
  • Designing for virtual and hybrid presentations
  • How animation and transitions can help tell the story
  • Standalone PowerPoint: pre-recorded presentations and video for web and beyond
  • Creating engaging experiences for your audience

Click here to download the printable agenda PDF


All times listed in Pacific Time (Seattle) or UTC-7

Day 1: Thursday, February 16, 2023

7:30 AM – 7:55 AM Pacific
Welcome Meetup, Day 1

Bring your coffee/tea/drink of choice, and join us for an informal chat before the sessions begin.

8:00 AM – 9:00 AM Pacific
Super Simple Slides
Mike Parkinson

Learn how to make simple yet engaging and professional slides quickly. Mike shares new, innovative designs that you can make quickly and easily—when you know how. Using the latest trends, discover tips, tricks, and techniques to develop amazing slides. Yes, sometimes it’s true that “Less is best!”


You'll learn how to:

  • Make professional slides quickly
  • Cut wasted content
  • See the latest in slide design
  • Implement the idea of less is best
  • Discover free and low cost tools

Click here to watch a special Sneak Peek of this session

9:15 AM – 10:15 AM Pacific
What’s Your Story?
Jole Simmons

Like any classic novel or award winning film, a good story should be the backbone of your presentation. But what separates a good story from a not-so-good one? In this session, you’ll discover the essential structure and elements you need to craft engaging and memorable stories. Then, learn how to bring your story to life with presentation techniques that make a strong emotional connection with your audience. In the story your clients tell others, you’ll always be the hero.


You'll learn:

  • The elements that make up a story and how to use them in any kind of presentation
  • What it takes to make a good story into a great story
  • How to use visual storytelling principles to make your presentation look and feel amazing

10:30 AM – 11:30 AM Pacific
Powered Up PowerPoint
Richard Goring

Let’s face it: working in PowerPoint brings frustration in the form of many tiresome and repetitive tasks—plus a surprising number of things we think it should be able to do, but (shockingly) can’t. But what if there were some magical tools out there that helped you work at supersonic speeds—or even enabled you to do things that were previously impossible? In this session, you’ll discover the best PowerPoint add-ons, see how they work, and learn why they’re awesome. From the simple and straightforward to the robust and mighty, learn how these tools can help you make PowerPoint magic in less time with fewer hassles.


Takeaways include:

  • Understand how you can use add-ins to customize PowerPoint and make it work for you
  • Save huge amounts of time and effort to automate complex and manual tasks
  • Do completely new things with PowerPoint that simply weren’t possible before
  • Find the best add-ins for your needs, including which are free and which are worth paying for

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM Pacific
Lunch and Informal Meetup

Grab a bite to eat and come chat at our “virtual table” along with our speakers and experts in the community from around the world.

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM Pacific
Pointers and Power Moves
Nolan Haims

How well do you know PowerPoint, really? The truth is: there’s always more to learn. Whether you’re an old school whiz or the new kid on the block, there’s something for everyone in this session. Which cool trick or little known technique will rock your world the most? There’s only one way to find out—don’t miss this session!


You'll learn:

  • Edit imagery with Photoshop-like techniques without ever leaving PowerPoint
  • Format text like a pro and eliminate bullets with just a few clicks
  • Dramatically speed up your workflows with customized shortcuts
  • Break away from “next slide” dreariness with seamless and organic transitions
  • And much more!

Click here to watch a special Sneak Peek of this session!

1:45 PM – 2:45 PM Pacific
“Pls Fix, Thx”
Mark Heaps

You’ve seen the “pls fix” memes and they’re far too relatable, right? Your boss (or client) gives you a long to-do list with vague feedback and even less clear details, asking you (once again) to just “work your magic.” And by the way, could you get it done like, yesterday already? In this session you’ll learn how to apply quick fixes to common problems, plus how to build streamlined workflows with all your stakeholders.

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM Pacific
PowerPoint Cameo Deep Dive
Rolly Seth and Emma Bannister

Join Senior Product Manager Rolly Seth and Presentation Studio CEO and Microsoft MVP Emma Bannister for an inside peek at working with video, Recording Studio, and cameo in PowerPoint.

Day 2: Friday, February 17, 2023

7:30 AM – 7:55 AM Pacific
Welcome Meetup, Day 2

Bring your coffee/tea/drink of choice, and join us for an informal chat before the sessions begin.

8:00 AM – 9:00 AM Pacific
It’s Aliiive! Get Moving with Animation in PowerPoint
Ingrid Mengdehl

Animation is a critical component in presentations. It paces the flow of information, making things clearer for your audience. It supports more effective storytelling, helping people understand the key points. And it can be used to produce beautiful looking presentations, grabbing attention, enhancing your design, and making everything appear more professional. In this session you’ll learn how to use animation to great effect, increasing your presentation’s “wow” factor with a smooth and natural feel.

You'll learn:

  • Animation isn’t just about making things exciting! It can also help you pace the delivery of information, making sure your audience is fully engaged and following your message.
  • How to grab attention without the (awful) boomerang animation. Instead, consider using subtle highlights, like changing your background colour, making one element grow or move across the slide.
  • Animation doesn’t have to be complicated. While animating in PowerPoint can appear to be intimidating, there are some amazing new tools like Morph enabling you to create some incredible effects with very little effort.

9:15 AM – 10:15 AM Pacific
Tell Compelling Stories with Data
Sheila B. Robinson

One key to effective data visualization is knowing what questions your audience has and which chart or graph will best answer them. Sure, PowerPoint offers default options, but with a few easy-to-learn tricks, you can design charts and graphs that are compelling, easy to comprehend, tell an important story, and most importantly, answer readers’ questions.

Participants will learn:

  • To approach data visualization by anticipating reader questions
  • To examine graphs and charts with an eye on the story
  • To create and customize new chart types inside PowerPoint

10:30 AM – 11:30 AM Pacific
Microsoft Team Panel: Ask 'Em Anything!
Shawn Villaron, Kim Denny, Cindy Alvarez, and Harshal Ingole

Join us for an informal, educational, and insightful discussion with top members of the Microsoft PowerPoint team, including product management and engineering. Bring your questions, and be ready for some fun answers!

Includes: Shawn Villaron (Vice President and General Manager, PowerPoint and Office Video), Kim Denny (Group Product Manager), Cindy Alvarez (Director of UX), Harshal Ingole (Director of Engineering)

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM Pacific
Lunch and Informal Meetup

Grab a bite to eat and come chat at our “virtual table” along with our speakers and experts in the community from around the world.

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM Pacific
Learning to Live with Google Slides
Lisa Marie Grillos

Your client or boss has asked you to use Google Slides, but the thought makes you queasy because PowerPoint is your main squeeze—what do you do? Can you somehow make them work together? What do you need to know or look out for? Learn how to set up a workflow system to get the best from both in this sanity-saving session from Lisa Marie Grillos.


You'll discover:

  • Reasons to embrace google slides
  • The best of both worlds: make PPT and Google Slides play nice
  • How to make the best of Google’s animation features
  • Accessibility tips for Google Slides

1:45 PM – 2:45 PM Pacific
Choose Your Own Adventure: Standalone PowerPoint Presos
Cass Taylor

Whether you need an interactive training deck or a standalone presentation that can run itself at a trade show, PowerPoint has some incredible interactivity features that many people simply don’t know about (or haven’t figured out how to leverage). Elements such as triggers and hyperlinks can be used in imaginative ways to create unique experiences with a level of engagement you never knew was possible. In this session, you’ll learn to rethink everything you thought you knew about interactivity in PowerPoint while discovering advanced techniques for engaging your audience like never before.


Don't miss your chance to:

  • Learn how to create a personalized interactive preso journey for your audiences.
  • Enhance your visual storytelling with simple animations & transitions
  • Create an app prototype story using simple PPT tools
  • Design an interactive interface strategy that DOES NOT look like a PPT
  • Use PPT to drive your story and not have PPT be your story

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM Pacific
Interview with Presentation Design Master Megan Paskin
Hosted by Mark Heaps

Don’t miss this interview with presentation design superstar Megan Paskin, Senior Art Director at Duarte. Hosted by Mark Heaps, this session is bound to delight and inspire.

Quick Tip: How to Stretch an Image in PowerPoint Without Distortion

Nolan Haims shows just how easy it is to stretch an image to fit a slide—without distorting it and without a trip out to Photoshop and back. This tip is a sneak peek of Nolan’s upcoming Design + PowerPoint Summit session, Pointers and Power Moves.

Quick Tip: Super Simple Slide Design

Mike Parkinson demos how to punch up the visual interest within a presentation using enhancements such as cropping with different shapes, photo treatments, and adding icons, movement, and color. This tip is a sneak peek of Mike’s upcoming Design + PowerPoint Summit session, Super Simple Slides.

Cass Taylor

Cass Taylor

Cindy Alvarez

Cindy Alvarez

Emma Bannister

Emma Bannister

Harshal Ingole

Harshal Ingole

Ingrid Mengdehl

Ingrid Mengdehl

Jole Simmons

Jole Simmons

Kim Denny

Kim Denny

Lisa Marie Grillos

Lisa Marie Grillos

Mark Heaps

Mark Heaps

Megan Paskin

Megan Paskin

Mike Parkinson

Mike Parkinson

Nolan Haims

Nolan Haims

Richard Goring

Richard Goring

Rolly Seth

Rolly Seth

Shawn Villaron

Shawn Villaron

Sheila B. Robinson

Sheila B. Robinson

Registration is now closed.

Your registration includes:

  • One year of on-demand access to all session and Q&A session recordings
  • Speaker handouts and resources from the world’s top experts
  • Savings on future live and online CreativePro events with the alumni discount.

Pricing:
2-day pass — non-members: $695

2-day pass — members: $595

Click here to become a member


Discounts are available for nonprofit, government, education, CreativePro members, and alumni of CreativePro events. Discounts cannot be combined. Discounts cannot be added after registration. Please contact us here for discount information prior to registering.

CreativePro and its brands are independently-owned and not endorsed or authorized by Adobe Systems Incorporated or Microsoft. Adobe, Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems, Inc. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are registered trademarks of Microsoft.

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