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UdemyCommunication SkillsPaid courseAll LevelsCertificate

Beginners Guide To Business Presentations And Powerpoint (Udemy.com)

Learn to create professional PowerPoint slides for business and deliver them with maximum impact online or in person

Created by: Peter Alkema

Last updated November 2025

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What you will learn

  • Principles of slide composition and design using palettes and templates for maximum visual impact
  • Why Amazon has banned PowerPoint and the importance of a clear and concise narrative for each slide
  • Presenting using virtual meeting platforms like Teams and how you can use collaboration features while presenting
  • Why you shouldn't use animations or transitions and how they distract from your content
  • How pictures and diagrams can be misinterpreted and how to avoid that in your presentations
  • Presenting in a physical setting and how to maximise your impact by understanding the room setting
  • The importance of a well prepared executive summary and how it supports your preparation
  • Getting started in Powerpoint using key features to build and layout different elements such as shapes, tables, charts
  • How to deal with people who are busy on their phones or laptops while you are presenting

How it compares

Against the other 392 rated Udemy courses in Communication Skills on CourseDuck:

  • Rating4.4 out of 5higher than 22% of them
  • Reviews1,711#132 of 393 by number of reviews
  • Length27.2 hourslonger than 96% of them
  • Last updatedNovember 2025more recently than 54% of them

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Course Description

"I always thought I understood PowerPoint but this course has given me more light and understanding. I am definitely ready to create my own slides and presents." - Malesela M.

"Peter certainly practises what he preaches! The live examples and practical demonstrations are brilliant and establish Peter's credibility for teaching the course. The material is targeted and relevant for giving an effective presentation, with no unnecessary detail. I love Peter's humour and honest no-nonsense approach to coping with what will go wrong." - Janet A.

"Having to know the different types of presentations, when and how to use them and the purpose of using and knowing these different forms of presentations. How to set up good presentation slides and which content to include on those slides and also how to set up a powerful virtual and physical presentation that will grab your audience attention and also how to use the different editing format that will help you make a killer power point presentation." - Nosipho Khumalo

"This is the best course that shows you how to do quality presentations which is exactly what I needed to know, absolutely valuable and helpful for my personal growth." - Josephine Mahlangu

"Excellent thus far! Thank you Peter, once again your lesson and course have given me so much knowledge and understanding about this topic. Really enjoyed" - Werner van Wyk

In this course I will teach you how to prepare and present powerful business presentations using Powerpoint. The course includes techniques for presenting online so that you still maximise the impact of your presentation if everyone is working from home. I've presented to thousands of people in all kinds of settings during my 20 year career which includes 10 years as a management consultant and 10 years in leadership roles at large financial institutions. Your career success will depend on how well you can communicate and delivering presentations is a crucial method of communication in the workplace. Learn these skills today to make you a more powerful PowerPoint presenter for business.

I will teach you about the following

  • Different presentation settings; conferences, executive meetings, small team meetings

  • Reasons for presentations; status updates, executive reviews, approvals, business cases, projects

  • Understand why Powerpoint is banned at Amazon and how you can avoid abusing Powerpoint

  • How agendas are set and presentations are compiled and distributed before a meeting

  • How to combine text, graphics, data, charts and other visual material in aesthetic slides

  • Using Powerpoint from scratch and the techniques of creating your first basic slide

  • Why Mark Twain was thinking about Powerpoint when he said "I was going to write you a short letter but I didn't have time, so I wrote you a long letter"

  • How to avoid cluttering a slide with too much detail and how to keep the number of slides down

  • The importance of an executive summary and how this helps you deliver a better presentation

  • How pictures can easily be misinterpreted and why an unambiguous narrative is critical

  • Why you shouldn't repeat words on a slide and what a title and sub-title should achieve

  • The "so-what" box and how you must incorporate this element on your most important slides

  • How virtual meetings allow you to add a bit more detail onto slides

  • Different views in Powerpoint as well as adding shapes, text, doing alignment and keyboard shortcuts

  • Drawing tools, tables, charts, smart art, borders, fill, outline, grid and guides

  • Transitions and animations and why you should avoid using them in business presentations

  • Why you shouldn't use gradients, mix pictures and text or use curly fonts that are too small

  • How to use all the collaboration features of online meeting tools while you are presenting

  • Why you shouldn't ask people if they can see your slides or hear you when you start presenting

  • Presentations in a physical setting and the importance of understanding the room beforehand

  • How to deal with people who are busy on their phones or laptops while you are presenting

  • Why you should tell people what you are going to tell them before you actually tell them

  • Why it doesn't matter if you don't actually present your slides and why that's sometimes important

You can become a powerful powerpoint presenter by following the lessons in this course, locking in the learnings with the worksheets and applying what you have learnt in your next presentation.

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Instructor Details

Peter Alkema

"What an amazing course! After finishing this course, I have confidence. Thank so much Dr Peter Alkema" ... "This is exactly the jump-start I needed. Very clear and concise"

I lead Digital Transformation & Architecture at ABB and I've been featured on CNBC Africa and won the Gartner CIO Of The Year in 2016. I founded and led the largest banking hackathon in South Africa which was published in 2019 as a case study by Harvard Business School.

I've taught over 100,000 students about technology, business, academics and self-development. In 2020 I completed my PhD at Wits University In Johannesburg. The study introduced a ground-breaking theory of Agile software development teams. My woodworking book was published in 2014 and has sold over 10,000 copies.

Olugbenga Gbadegesin: "Excellent delivery" / Lebogang Tswelapele: "This is what I have been longing for" / Paskalia Ndapandula: "Peter speaks with so much clarity" / Amantle Mangwedi: "It was straight to the point and the sections are cut into nice short segments which made it easier to go through" Kathy Bermudez: "Excellent material. Well organized..."

Werner van Wyk: "Thank you Peter, once again your lesson and course have given me so much knowledge and understanding" / Yvonne Rudolph "I really look forward to take everything i learned in action" / Josephine Mahlangu: "exactly what I needed to know, absolutely valuable and helpful for my personal growth"

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Reviews

4.4

1,711 ratings on Udemy

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By MUSTAFA BILGIC on 6/14/2026

too long - too much quiz

By Dolores Lopez Pondal on 3/10/2026

It was good and accurate, and it covered that we need to know to master the business presentations and PPT.

By Faisal Khan on 10/17/2025

Sheer glaze for ai was insane

By Sambhav Garg Garg on 10/17/2025

It’s a skill I know I’ll use in many areas of my life moving forward.

By Lakshya Rathi on 10/8/2025

In this assignment you will develop an action plan for applying your new skills and insights to your life. You have gained a lot of knowledge from the course lessons and tested your new skills in the quizzes. Now continue your journey beyond the course.

By Harsh Singh on 10/7/2025

Yes, this course was a great match for me. It helped me understand how AI can be used effectively in real-world situations, not just as a technical tool but as a way to enhance teamwork, decision-making, and creativity. I especially liked how the course explained the balance between human intelligence and AI, showing that AI is meant to support people, not replace them. The lessons on data-driven insights and collaboration were very practical and connected well with my interests as a software engineering student.

By ojas ojas on 9/30/2025

great lectures and with clear explantion

By Manan Sharma on 9/30/2025

bhaiya hi maza aagya bhot acha tha yar yeh oh yes

By Abhiraj Gupta on 9/30/2025

Really Amazing Course!

By Pulakith Sai raj on 9/21/2025

wonderful course life changing

Showing all 10 reviews on CourseDuck

Read all 1,711 reviews on Udemy

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Quality Score

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Overall Score : 88 / 100