Making Presentations Like Salesforce [Guide + Example]
- Ink Narrates | The Presentation Design Agency
- Oct 5
- 7 min read
Jared, one of our clients, asked us a sharp question while we were designing a presentation template for his firm. He said,
“Can you make it look like Salesforce, but still feel like us?”
Our Creative Director didn’t miss a beat. He replied,
“Yes. What you’re asking for is style without losing identity.”
That answer hit the nail on the head. As a presentation design agency, we work on many Salesforce-style decks throughout the year and in the process, we’ve observed one common challenge: most teams want the fun, powerful look of a Salesforce presentation, but they also want to avoid becoming a copy-paste version of it.
So, in this blog, we’ll explore the style of Salesforce presentations, an example of a Salesforce template, explain how you can build Salesforce-style decks tailored to your brand, and highlight the role of narrative in making these decks effective.
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.
First, Let’s Discuss the Style of Salesforce Presentations.
They are entirely illustrative, which is one of the toughest styles to design. Illustrations look simple when you see them, but creating them in a way that feels polished and consistent across 40 or 50 slides is no easy task. Yet Salesforce manages to pull it off every single time. Their decks look effortless, even though we know how much design discipline goes into them.
Here’s the thing. These are not brand guidelines.
From what we’ve researched so far, Salesforce presentations are built on something smarter. They use an excellent template system that is comprehensive, packed with libraries of creative assets, and full of ready-made layouts that their teams can pick from. It’s like walking into a kitchen where every ingredient is prepped, chopped, and measured. All you need to do is assemble.
We bet their teams aren’t wasting a single minute building those perfect looking slides from scratch. They’re simply plugging into a framework that’s been designed for efficiency. And that’s not luck. It’s a system. We know exactly how that’s achievable, and if you stick with this blog, you’ll see how.
Example: The Salesforce Presentation Template
Here’s an example of the template system we mentioned. Keep in mind, this is for inspiration only. We don’t recommend downloading or copying it. Your brand deserves a custom system built specifically for you.
If you look closely, you’ll notice the layouts are fully structured. Slides that are meant to be text-heavy are already formatted for readability and impact. At the end of the template deck, you’ll find every creative asset anyone in their organization could need to build a deck, even if they aren’t a designer.
This is a comprehensive 83-slide template that shows how a well-thought-out system can make presentations consistent, polished, and easy to produce.
How You Can Build Salesforce Style Decks That Fit Your Brand
So how can you take that style and make it yours? How can your presentations feel like Salesforce decks without turning into a carbon copy? The first step is understanding what makes those decks work in the first place.
1. Start with a Template System, Not a Slide-by-Slide Design
This is where most teams go wrong. They open PowerPoint, stare at a blank canvas, and start designing slide after slide. That’s exhausting. It’s inconsistent. And it rarely looks good. Salesforce doesn’t do that. They have a template system in place, a library of layouts, illustrations, and formatting rules that their team can plug into.
Think about this: instead of spending hours trying to format a chart, your team opens a template, and it’s already formatted. Want a text-heavy slide? There’s a layout for that. A case study? There’s a layout for that too. Need an illustration of a process? Pick from the library. That’s what makes the decks consistent and professional.
Your first step should be building a similar system for your brand. Start by identifying the most common slide types your team uses; overview slides, problem slides, solution slides, case studies, charts, tables, quotes. Then, design a layout for each one. It doesn’t need to be complicated. The goal is clarity and consistency.
2. Invest in a Library of Illustrations and Icons
Salesforce decks are almost entirely illustrative. That’s what gives them that approachable, modern look. But here’s the thing; illustrations are hard to do well. They have to feel cohesive, maintain the same style across hundreds of slides, and avoid looking “clip-art-y.”
Your solution is a library of custom illustrations and icons designed to match your brand. Don’t buy generic stock illustrations. Invest in a set of visuals that feel like you. Once you have these, any team member can drop them into a slide and instantly make it look like a designer made it. This is what separates a polished deck from a rushed one.
And don’t forget the little things. Icons, arrows, accent graphics, they’re not just decoration. They guide your audience’s eye, highlight key points, and make information digestible. Build a small but comprehensive library that can be reused across all your presentations.
3. Create Ready-Made Layouts for Every Scenario
A Salesforce deck isn’t just pretty illustrations and colors. It’s structure. Every slide type has a purpose, and every purpose has a format. A case study slide looks one way. A data-heavy slide looks another. A title slide is completely different. The layouts are designed to make content easy to read, easy to scan, and visually engaging.
Map out the slide types your organization needs most. For example:
Title Slides: Strong visual with minimal text. Sets the tone.
Agenda Slides: Clear structure, easy to follow.
Problem Slides: Emphasize pain points without overwhelming text.
Solution Slides: Highlight your approach visually.
Data Slides: Charts and graphs formatted consistently.
Team Slides: Professional headshots, clear hierarchy.
Case Study Slides: Structured storytelling layout.
Once you have these layouts, your team doesn’t have to think about design on the fly. They just pick a layout, drop in content, and it already looks polished.
4. Stick to a Defined Color Palette and Typography System
A big part of the Salesforce look comes from consistent colors and fonts. It’s subtle, but it matters.
When every slide uses the same typeface, sizes, and accent colors, the deck feels professional. When fonts and colors vary, the slides feel amateurish.
Define:
Primary and secondary fonts for headings and body text.
Primary, secondary, and accent colors for backgrounds, text, and highlights.
Highlight and callout styles for emphasis.
Make sure these are locked into your templates. This ensures that even if someone unfamiliar with design edits the deck, it will still feel cohesive.
5. Format Text for Readability, Not Decoration
Salesforce decks are deceptively simple. A text-heavy slide doesn’t feel overwhelming because the formatting is intentional. Headings are concise. Bullet points are short. Line spacing is generous. Key points are highlighted, not buried.
Your deck should follow the same principle. Less is more. Don’t try to cram a paragraph onto a slide. Break it into two, use a chart, or convert it into an illustration. Make your slides easy to scan in seconds. Remember, slides support your presentation, they don’t replace it.
6. Make Your Deck Self-Sufficient With Asset References
One of the reasons Salesforce decks are so easy to use is that every asset anyone could need is included. Illustrations, icons, charts, color swatches, logo variations, all in one place. No searching through folders, no emailing designers for help. Everything is ready to go.
When you build your system, include a slide (or slides) at the end that acts as an asset library. Anyone in your organization should be able to pick it up and start building a deck without needing design expertise.
7. Test and Iterate
Even the best systems aren’t perfect from day one. Test your templates with your team. Watch how they use them. Where do they struggle? Which slides do they avoid? Iterate and improve.
This feedback loop is what makes a template truly usable. Salesforce didn’t get it right overnight. They refined it over time, learning what worked for their teams.
8. Don’t Forget Brand Personality
Finally, the key difference between a Salesforce-style deck and your Salesforce-style deck is your brand. Don’t strip it down to just colors and illustrations. Keep your tone of voice, your messaging style, and your identity intact. That’s what makes it feel authentic. It’s not about copying Salesforce—it’s about taking the system they perfected and making it yours.
When you follow these steps, what you get is a deck that is:
Consistent: Every slide looks like it belongs to the same system.
Efficient: Your team can build decks quickly without design headaches.
Professional: Slides are polished, readable, and visually engaging.
Flexible: The system grows with your needs, adding new layouts or illustrations as your presentations evolve.
A Salesforce-style presentation is not about flashy effects or overcomplicated slides. It’s about building a system that works. And once you have that system, your team can focus on the content, the story, and the results, without sweating over design details on every single slide.
The Role of Narrative in Salesforce Decks
The interesting thing about Salesforce’s narrative approach is that it works in reverse. Instead of writing the story first and then designing slides, they start with the layouts. The narrative is then shaped to fit the slide formats.
This method might sound unconventional, but it’s incredibly effective. The layouts naturally limit how much text can go on a slide, forcing clarity and conciseness. No long paragraphs, no cluttered charts, no endless bullet points.
Here’s why it works so well:
Clarity by Design
The slide layouts enforce limits, so every point has to be clear and purposeful.
Consistency Across Slides
Following pre-designed formats ensures that each slide feels part of a cohesive deck.
Efficiency for Teams
With the narrative built around the layouts, your team spends less time overthinking design and more time refining the story.
By letting the design guide the narrative, Salesforce decks stay sharp, professional, and easy to follow, something every team can learn from when building their own presentations.
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.