Which Colors Should I Use in My Presentation?

The season of end-of-semester presentations is quickly approaching. Whether you design your presentation in PowerPoint, Keynote, or Prezi, remember that color choices matter. While you're spending time perfecting your business pitch or fine-tuning your poetic flourishes, don't forget that your audience will be receiving from you a visual message as well.

Sabina Nore's free resource "The Designer's Handbook of Colors" is a concise, interesting explanation of how colors can communicate quite different messages and provoke very particular feelings. Two of her examples include:

Orange radiates cheerfulness, enthusiasm and creativity, but what is very often important when designing web sites, it is also associated with affordability.

Blue is one of the most liked colors, especially by men. It is linked with depth and stability, professionalism, honor and trust. Blue raises productivity, and diminishes the appetite.

Color preferences by gender and color picking tools are also included in Nore's resource. It's worth looking over to understand how the colors in your presentation might be saying more (or less) than you would like them to!