Illustrate Don't Decorate!

To add meaning to presentation media, you will want to determine whether you are illustrating your message or merely decorating.  Selecting a cool blue template with some feathery swooshes is decorating.  It adds no meaning to your presentation.  This is equally true of wide bands of corporate branding stuff around the edges that distract from the content of your talk.  I just saw a presentation by a social/mobile media guru-ette the other day who had a crazy, overgrown weed of a corporate branding element that was so distracting that, like a train wreck, made it difficult for me to avert my gaze.  The presenter had tech savvy, but no visual communication savvy.  Save your logo for the last page.  Make them remember you for what you said and the value that you bring to the table.  Not that in-your-face marketing stuff.  If necessary, hire a graphic artist to assist you with drawings or graphics that clarify and enhance your communication.  If you have a burning desire to decorate, perhaps your office could use an extreme makeover.  I know mine does.