How to Choose Presentation Colors [The right palette]

Our client, Scott, asked us an interesting question while we were making his investor pitch deck:

“How do you know which presentation colors will impress but not overwhelm?”

Our Creative Director answered, very accurately,

“You pick colors that serve the story, not steal the stage.”

As a presentation design agency, we work on many presentation colors throughout the year and in the process we’ve observed one common challenge: people focus too much on what looks trendy and forget what actually communicates.

So in this blog, we’ll talk about how to choose a color palette that elevates your message and supports your audience’s understanding.

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.

Why Colors Matter in a Presentation

Let’s be honest with each other. Most people pick presentation colors the same way they pick a shirt in the morning: whatever feels right. Maybe they go with their brand’s main color. Maybe they pull a color combo they saw on Instagram. Maybe they just click through the PowerPoint theme options until something looks “cool.”

But here’s the thing. In presentations, colors do more than just sit there looking pretty. They set mood. They guide attention. They help (or hurt) readability. They shape how people feel about the information you’re showing.

We’ve seen this time and again with clients across industries — from finance to healthcare to tech. A deck with the wrong color palette feels scattered or childish or lifeless, even if the content is rock solid. On the flip side, a well-chosen palette makes even complex, dry material feel clear and engaging.

You need to remember one hard truth: the colors you choose are part of your message. They are not just decoration. They are part of the storytelling system you are building on that screen.

Before we dive into how to pick the right palette, we want you to sit with this idea. When you present, you are not just putting words and images on slides. You are creating an experience for your audience. And color is one of your most powerful tools to shape that experience.

How to Choose the Right Presentation Colors

We know you are here for the practical part. So let’s break this down step by step, speaking from the trenches of real client work.

We are not giving you vague design theory. We are giving you battle-tested advice that has worked for clients like Scott, and honestly, has saved more presentations than we can count.

Here’s how you approach presentation colors the right way.

1. Understand Your Core Message

Before you even think about colors, stop and ask yourself: what is the main feeling or message you want the audience to walk away with?

Is this a high-stakes financial update where trust and stability matter?Is it a product launch that needs energy and excitement?Is it a social impact report meant to inspire empathy and action?

Different messages call for different color directions. For example, a financial update probably leans on cooler, stable colors like blues and grays, while a product launch might benefit from energetic colors like bright oranges or greens.

Colors carry psychological weight. Use that weight intentionally.

2. Work From a Base, Not a Blank Slate

You don’t need to start inventing color combinations from scratch. Most companies already have brand guidelines — and if you don’t, you probably have a logo or website that uses some signature colors.

Start there. Use your core brand color as an anchor and build your palette around it. But here’s the kicker: you do not want to overuse your brand color on every slide. That creates visual fatigue.

We often recommend using the brand color sparingly for key highlights or calls to action. Build supporting colors (secondary, neutral, accent) to fill out the rest of the deck. Think of it like designing a room — if everything is the same bright color, you end up with chaos, not style.

3. Limit Your Palette to Avoid Chaos

One of the biggest mistakes we see: people throwing too many colors onto their slides because they want things to “pop.”

We are telling you right now — too much color kills clarity.

Stick to a palette of around 3 to 5 colors:

• One primary color (usually your brand anchor)

• One or two secondary colors (complementary but distinct)

• One or two neutral tones (like white, black, or gray)

  
  

This setup gives you enough variety to create contrast without turning your slides into a rainbow parade.

Remember, the human eye craves simplicity. When you limit your palette, you make it easier for the audience to know where to look and what to focus on.

4. Use Contrast to Guide Attention

Now that you have your palette, use it smartly.

We always tell clients: contrast creates hierarchy.

That means you use stronger, more saturated colors for things you want the audience to notice first (like headlines, key numbers, or calls to action). You use softer, neutral tones for background elements or supporting text.

Imagine you have a dark blue background. A bright orange headline will jump out instantly. But if you use dark blue on dark blue or soft gray on white, nothing stands out, and your key points get lost.

We see too many slides where everything is the same weight, the same saturation, the same importance. No wonder the audience zones out. Give their eyes somewhere to land.

5. Prioritize Readability Over Style

We need to say this loud and clear: readability always beats style.

We know those pastel color schemes look amazing on mood boards. We know you love that trendy pale yellow paired with soft beige. But on a slide? Under harsh conference room lights? On a tiny webinar screen?

It’s a disaster.

High-contrast combinations like dark text on a light background (or vice versa) almost always win for readability. Be careful with color-on-color combos that seem stylish but fail when projected or shared over Zoom.

We often run a simple test: shrink the slide preview down to thumbnail size. If you can still clearly read the main message, you are on the right track. If it all blurs together, rethink your contrast.

6. Consider the Audience’s Emotional Response

We touched on this earlier, but let’s go deeper.

Colors are not just visual — they are emotional.

Warm colors (reds, oranges, yellows) create feelings of energy, urgency, or friendliness. Cool colors (blues, greens, purples) create feelings of calm, trust, or professionalism. Neutral colors (black, white, gray, beige) act as grounding elements that help balance everything else.

When you pick your palette, think about the emotional tone you are setting. A non-profit talking about a climate crisis probably shouldn’t be using slick neon colors. A fintech startup pitching a new product probably shouldn’t lean into soft pinks and pastels.

You want alignment between your message, your brand, and your emotional tone.

7. Be Consistent Across the Deck

This one seems obvious but trust us, it gets overlooked all the time.

Once you choose your palette, stick to it across the entire presentation.

Don’t start with one set of colors on Slide 1, then change styles halfway through because you got bored or found a cool template. Consistency builds trust. It makes your presentation feel polished and intentional.

We usually set up a slide master or theme that locks in the color palette from the start, so every new slide follows the same rules. This saves time and keeps your deck looking like one coherent piece instead of a patchwork.

8. Use Tools to Check Accessibility

If you really want to level up, check how your presentation colors hold up for accessibility.

Colorblindness affects about 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women. That means a chunk of your audience may not see red-green or blue-yellow contrasts the way you do.

There are free online tools like WebAIM’s Contrast Checker or Stark that let you test color combinations for accessibility compliance.

Even if you don’t go full-on accessibility testing, just asking yourself, “Would someone with colorblindness still understand this?” can push you toward better design decisions.

9. Test Across Devices and Environments

Here’s a real-world tip from our agency’s workflow.

We always test decks on multiple screens — a laptop, a projector, a mobile device. Colors behave differently depending on brightness, resolution, and lighting conditions.

What looks perfect on your high-end MacBook might look washed out on a dim projector. That stylish dark gray text might disappear on an older monitor.

If you can, run a rehearsal in the actual presentation space or platform you’ll be using. Make sure your palette holds up under real-world conditions.

10. Remember: Less is Almost Always More

Let’s leave you with one of our agency’s mantras: Color is a spice, not the main dish.

Your audience is there for the content, the story, the insight — not for the color palette. The right colors should enhance the message, not overshadow it.

When in doubt, simplify. Strip away anything that doesn’t serve clarity, focus, or emotional alignment.

The best-designed slides are not the ones that make you say, “Wow, cool colors.” They are the ones that make you say, “Wow, I really understand this.”

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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.

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