Word clouds make presentations interactive and allow the viewers to get an overview of the key messages at once. Making a word cloud in PowerPoint is easier than you may think. This tutorial will show you how you can create a word cloud in just a few steps without having any special software for it. Let’s get started.
What is a Word Cloud?
But before the how-to, let me briefly explain what a word cloud is. A word cloud is a visualization of words where the size of each word indicates its frequency or importance. They are ideal for displaying keywords, and key phrases, or to summarize a longer body of text.
Why Use Word Clouds in Presentations?
Word clouds are ways in which to hook your audience and drive a message across creatively. They are best suited for:
- Identifying key themes
- Creative summary of data.
- Making your presentation lively and memorable.
How to Create a Word Cloud in PowerPoint
Step 1: Prepare Your Text
First, collect the text that you would like to make into a word cloud; it can be key points, survey responses, or even a brainstorming list. The more times a word appears in your text, the bigger its size in the word cloud.
Step 2: Make a Word Cloud via One of the Several Free Online Tools
PowerPoint doesn’t have a default option to create a word cloud, but don’t you worry! There are so many free, super-easy-to-use word cloud generators online, like WordArt.com, WordClouds.com, or Tagxedo. All you have to do is copy and paste your text there.
Pro Tip: Adjust fonts, colors, and shapes so that your word cloud can make sense of your presentation.
Once your word cloud is personalized, click the “Generate” or “Create” button. When happy with the look, download it as an image file, usually in a PNG or JPG format.
Step 4: Insert the Word Cloud into PowerPoint
Open your PowerPoint presentation and go to the slide in which you would like to include the word cloud. Click the Insert tab on the top toolbar and select Pictures, choosing the word cloud image you have downloaded.
Tip: Resize, and position the word cloud appropriately in your layout. Even better, use Format Picture options to add special effects like shadows or borders for that pop.
Step 5: Final Touches
Once the word cloud has been added, take a minute to ensure it aligns with your overall presentation design. You’ll want to adjust colors, font sizes, and other visual elements to maintain professional-looking slides. Want more presentation hacks? Head to our page for Tips & Tricks.
Pro Tip: Save Time with Pre-Made Templates
If you are in a hurry or want to make a neat presentation, save yourself by using premade professional PowerPoint templates available online. They’re made by pros, and besides, using such templates is going to save you so much work while making your presentation look sharp and polished. Many templates have design elements such as word clouds that are easily editable so you can fit them with your content.
More Presentation Hacks
Now that you can create a word cloud in PowerPoint, why stop there? You can go ahead and check out our blog “How to Create a Word Cloud in Google Slides” to learn the steps to add a Word cloud to the Google Slides platform.
Conclusion
It is rather easy to make a word cloud in PowerPoint. It will make any slide more dynamic and visually interesting in just a few steps. In addition, applying ready templates will save you time and effort and give a polished professional look to your presentation.
Happy presenting!
