Media Tip #5: Use a consistent visual theme

You should use one visual theme throughout your presentation because you want to surprise your audience with the content and not with the layout. Do NOT use a PowerPoint template—your audience expects a unique presentation, they can browse these templates on their own and don’t need you for that. One way to use PowerPoint templates without using the Microsoft provided ones, is to create your own PowerPoint file as a Design Template (.pot), or pay a professional to do it for you! The other option is obviously to use Photoshop to create your template and then use layer comps for each slide which will be exported as PDF. See this example of the visualization of research streams at the Center for Dental Informatics where I am working which uses a consistent theme. Research at CDI.