How to Make Presentations like Grant Thornton [A Guide]
- Ink Narrates | The Presentation Design Agency
- 8 hours ago
- 7 min read
A few weeks ago, our client Jorge asked us a very direct question while we were working on his presentation. He leaned in and asked,
“What makes Grant Thornton presentations so effective?”
Our Creative Director didn’t even blink. He replied,
“Their design is never good. But slide content clarity & structure wins"
As a presentation design agency, we work on many corporate-style presentations throughout the year and in the process, we’ve observed one common challenge: teams know what they want to say, but they struggle to package it in a way that holds attention and drives decisions.
So, in this blog, we’ll talk about how you can bring the same level of polish and authority into your own presentations, just like Grant Thornton does.
In case you didn't know, we specialize in only one thing: making presentations. We can help you by designing your slides and writing your content too.
What Makes Grant Thornton Presentations Stand Out
When you look at a Grant Thornton presentation, you won’t see flashy animations or cutting-edge design trends. That’s not their strength, and frankly, it doesn’t need to be.
Their presentations stand out because of the way they handle content and how consistently they stick to their brand system.
Here’s what really defines their style:
Content takes the lead
The strength of a Grant Thornton presentation lies in the material itself. Their slides usually carry well-thought-out insights, structured in a way that supports clear decision-making. It feels like every sentence has a purpose.
Brand consistency
They are disciplined with their brand colors and formatting. The palette is applied consistently across decks, which creates a strong sense of identity. Even without the logo, you can often tell it belongs to them.
Logical flow
The story is structured logically. Whether it’s a pitch, a report, or an internal update, the information builds naturally from one slide to the next. That makes it easier for the audience to follow without getting lost.
Functional formatting
The design may not be groundbreaking, but it does its job. Clean fonts, aligned layouts, and neat spacing keep the slides professional. It’s less about wow-factor and more about credibility.
What this adds up to is a presentation style that reflects the firm’s personality: professional, reliable, and focused on substance over decoration. Their decks don’t try to entertain you. They guide you with information presented in a way that feels trustworthy.
Here's a Grant Thornton presentation for your reference...
How to Make Presentations like Grant Thornton
If you want your presentations to carry the same sense of authority and professionalism as Grant Thornton, you don’t need to copy their exact style. What you need is to understand the principles behind how they build and present information. Their approach works because it’s disciplined, consistent, and grounded in clarity. Let’s break this down into actionable steps you can follow.
1. Start With the Core Message
Every presentation that works starts with a core message. Grant Thornton’s decks rarely feel scattered because they begin with clarity about what they want the audience to walk away with.
Ask yourself:
What’s the single most important point this presentation should communicate?
If the audience remembers only one thing, what should it be?
Once you’ve identified that, every slide you build should point back to this idea. Grant Thornton succeeds here because their decks often feel like they are pulling you toward one central conclusion instead of distracting you with ten competing ones.
Example: If you are presenting an annual performance review, the core message might be “Our business is positioned for stable growth despite market volatility.” Every chart, every bullet point, every headline should reinforce that point.
2. Prioritize Content Quality Over Flashy Design
One of the misconceptions in presentation design is that you need sophisticated graphics or animations to stand out. That’s not true. Grant Thornton shows that content quality matters more than design flash.
Good content means:
Insights that matter, not filler text
Data that is relevant, simplified, and easy to interpret
Arguments that are structured logically
If you get this right, even a clean and minimal design will feel impactful.
Practical step: Before designing, write out your main arguments in a Word document or outline tool. Pretend you’re explaining them to someone who doesn’t know the subject. If it’s clear there, it will translate well into slides.
3. Use Brand Consistency as a Strength
Grant Thornton’s slides are recognizable because of their disciplined use of brand colors and fonts. They don’t experiment wildly. Instead, they embrace consistency, and that’s exactly what gives their decks credibility.
When you see a deck that jumps between random colors, inconsistent font sizes, and unaligned layouts, it looks amateur. Consistency makes it look deliberate.
How you can do this:
Pick 2–3 brand colors and stick to them across the deck.
Define one font for headlines and one for body text. Don’t mix.
Keep alignment strict. Decide on margins and spacing rules and use them religiously.
This is what makes a presentation feel like it belongs to a professional brand rather than a personal project.
4. Structure the Story Logically
Grant Thornton’s decks work because they have a natural flow. They don’t just dump information. They guide you.
Here’s a simple structure you can borrow:
Opening context: Why we’re here and what problem we’re addressing.
Main insights: The key findings, ideas, or arguments.
Supporting evidence: Data, case studies, or details that back up the main points.
Implication or recommendation: What this means for the audience.
Call to action or next steps: What needs to happen now.
This structure works whether you’re presenting a client proposal, an internal update, or an investor pitch.
Example: In a strategy proposal, start with the market context, then lay out the main strategy, support it with numbers and trends, explain why it matters, and finish with the steps required to execute.
5. Keep the Slides Functional, Not Overdesigned
Design is not about decoration. It’s about communication. Grant Thornton’s presentations show this perfectly. They don’t try to dazzle the audience with heavy animations or excessive graphics. They keep the slides functional.
Here’s what that looks like:
Clear headlines that summarize the point of the slide
Charts that tell the story at a glance, not after ten minutes of staring
Bullet points that are short and scannable
Enough white space to let the content breathe
A functional design makes it easier for the audience to understand and retain information.
6. Respect the Audience’s Time
Audiences don’t have the patience for long-winded slides. Grant Thornton keeps things to the point, which shows respect for the audience.
Here’s how you can do the same:
Cut unnecessary words. “We experienced significant growth in revenue over the past financial year” can be shortened to “Revenue grew significantly this year.”
Keep slides short. Aim for one message per slide.
Don’t present 20 data points when 3 will do the job.
If you want to build credibility, don’t overwhelm people. Guide them.
7. Simplify Data Without Oversimplifying
Data is powerful, but only if people can understand it quickly. Grant Thornton does a good job at simplifying data into charts, graphs, or visualizations that are digestible.
The trick is balance. Oversimplify and you lose meaning. Overcomplicate and you lose the audience.
Practical step:
Use one chart per insight. Don’t try to cram multiple stories into the same chart.
Label clearly. Avoid tiny fonts or confusing legends.
Highlight what matters. If one bar is important, use a brand color to draw attention to it.
8. Lean on Headlines to Tell the Story
One thing that makes their decks easy to follow is the way they write headlines. Instead of generic titles like “Revenue Trends,” they write descriptive headlines like “Revenue grew 15% despite market slowdown.”
This way, even if the audience doesn’t read the chart, they get the main takeaway immediately.
You can do this for every slide. Write headlines that tell the story, not just label the content.
9. Create Slides That Work Without You Presenting
Another strength of Grant Thornton’s approach is that their decks are often designed to be read as well as presented. That means they hold up when shared by email.
You can apply the same principle by:
Making sure key points are written clearly on the slide
Using explanatory subheadings or captions where needed
Avoiding slides that rely entirely on spoken explanation
If someone looks at the deck without hearing you, they should still understand the narrative.
10. Edit Ruthlessly
The best presentations aren’t the ones with the most information. They’re the ones with the sharpest focus.
Grant Thornton decks feel sharp because unnecessary content is stripped away. Every slide earns its place. That’s what you should aim for too.
Practical editing steps:
Review each slide and ask, “Does this support the main message?” If not, cut it.
Simplify text wherever possible.
Keep decks to the shortest length that still does the job.
Editing is where good presentations become great.
11. Balance Professionalism With Approachability
Grant Thornton’s decks feel professional, but not stiff. They use straightforward language. They don’t try to impress with complex wording. That balance makes their presentations both authoritative and approachable.
You can do the same by:
Writing like you would explain to a colleague, not like you’re drafting a legal document
Using everyday language without being casual
Avoiding buzzwords that make content feel hollow
12. Test the Flow Before Finalizing
One last habit worth borrowing is testing the flow before calling the presentation final. Big firms like Grant Thornton don’t just build decks in isolation. They walk through them to make sure the story holds together.
Do this by:
Reading the deck out loud to see if it flows
Sharing it with a colleague to get feedback
Asking yourself, “If I were the audience, would this be easy to follow?”
This extra step helps you catch gaps, weak points, or redundancies before it’s too late.
Why Hire Us to Build your Presentation?
If you're reading this, you're probably working on a presentation right now. You could do it all yourself. But the reality is - that’s not going to give you the high-impact presentation you need. It’s a lot of guesswork, a lot of trial and error. And at the end of the day, you’ll be left with a presentation that’s “good enough,” not one that gets results. On the other hand, we’ve spent years crafting thousands of presentations, mastering both storytelling and design. Let us handle this for you, so you can focus on what you do best.