PowerPoint Trends in Consulting: What We’re Seeing in 2025
PowerPoint Trends in Consulting: What We’re Seeing in 2025
In the consulting world, your ideas are only as powerful as the slides you present them on.
Gone are the days of cramming five bullet points and a logo onto every slide. Today’s consulting firms are rethinking their approach to presentations—not just for aesthetics, but for clarity, impact, and persuasion.
As PPT Experts, we’ve worked with dozens of US-based consulting firms, and we’re seeing clear design shifts in 2025. If you’re still using the same templates from three years ago, this list is your wake-up call.
1. Minimalism Wins: Clear Beats Clever
Consultants are ditching clutter for clarity. Though the McKinsey Style PPT is still popular. Clean slides, generous white space, and a “one-slide-one-idea” approach are now the norm.
Why it matters:
Clients are busy. Your slides should guide, not overwhelm. Minimalism forces clarity—both in your thinking and your storytelling.
✅ Try this: Remove 50% of the text from your next slide and keep only what moves the story forward.
2. Typography = Tone of Voice
In 2025, big, bold fonts are doing more than looking good—they’re setting the tone. Consulting decks now use large type to emphasize key takeaways, establish hierarchy, and keep the narrative crisp.
What’s new:
It’s not just about size—it’s about intentionality. Each font style and weight now supports a message.
✅ Design tip: Use bold type to create visual anchors on key slides. Your audience should feel the headline before they read it.
3. Visual Storytelling > Raw Data
Why this works:
Clients don’t remember numbers—they remember stories. Visual storytelling makes your logic digestible and convincing.
✅ Scenario: Instead of a dense market share chart, show the trajectory with a simple “before-and-after” visual.
4. Interactive Slides Are Taking Over
Clickable agendas. Slide branching. Live polls. The rise of remote meetings and workshops has led to more interactive presentations—especially in client discovery sessions.
Why this trend matters:
Interactivity keeps people engaged and gives your audience control. It turns presentations into conversations.
✅ Try it: Add clickable navigation or a “Choose Your Path” structure to your next strategy deck.
5. Multimedia Is Making a Smart Comeback
Multimedia used to mean overdone transitions and shaky video embeds. Not anymore. Today’s multimedia—short videos, subtle GIFs, or embedded demos—is used strategically to simplify complex ideas.
The key:
It’s not about flash. It’s about focus. Good multimedia highlights, explains, or reinforces—not distracts.
✅ Use case: A 10-second animated walkthrough of a process often beats a 5-slide explanation.
6. Custom Infographics > Copy-Paste Charts
Templates are out. Bespoke visuals are in. Instead of generic pie charts, firms are commissioning custom infographics that align with their frameworks, data sets, and brand style.
Why it matters:
Your frameworks are proprietary. Your visuals should be, too.
✅ Idea: Turn your go-to strategy model into a custom icon set or flow chart that clients instantly associate with your firm.
7. Color Palettes: Earthy, With a Pop
Slide design in 2025 favors muted earth tones—warm grays, deep greens, slate blues—with bold accent colors used for emphasis. It’s modern, accessible, and sophisticated.
Why this works:
Neutral tones are easy on the eyes, while vibrant accents draw focus exactly where you want it.
✅ Pro tip: Use your brand’s accent color sparingly to guide attention, like a highlighter, not a paint bucket.
Bonus Trend: Consultants Are Outsourcing Presentation Design
Here’s the truth: More firms are admitting that design isn’t their strong suit—and they’re calling in PPT experts. Whether it’s for client decks, internal training, or sales proposals, outsourcing PowerPoint design is becoming the new norm.
Why it’s happening:
Design talent is expensive to keep in-house. Agencies (like ours) offer speed, scale, and polish—without the overhead.
✅ Thinking ahead: If your client is evaluating multiple firms, design could be the edge that wins you the project.
The Bottom Line
If your slides still look like they did in 2020, your pitch might be falling short in 2025.
Consulting clients are savvy—and they expect your visuals to reflect the precision of your thinking. Whether you’re explaining a complex market model or proposing a bold strategy, your presentation isn’t just a deck—it’s your delivery mechanism.
Want slides that help you win deals and drive decisions?
With 15 years of experience serving over 1000 clients across 50+ industries globally, including in the US, the experts at A1 Slides understand what makes a presentation impactful. Consider partnering with presentation design experts who can help you avoid these mistakes and create truly impactful slides.
