how to put quote in presentation

How To Display Quotes In PowerPoint? (A Step-By-Step Guide)

Are you looking to make an impact with your next PowerPoint presentation? One great way to do this is to include quotes that are meaningful and relevant to your message.

Not sure how to make sure the quotes are displayed effectively? This step-by-step guide will show you how to make the most of your quotes in your PowerPoint presentation, from choosing the right font and font size to adding background images and animations for extra impact.

Read on to discover how to make your quotes stand out and leave a lasting impression on your audience.

Table of Contents

Short Answer

To display quotes in PowerPoint, you can add them to a slide as text or as an image.

To add it as text, type or paste the quote into a text box on the slide.

To add it as an image, search for an image of the quote online, download it, and add it to the slide.

You can also use a template to quickly add a quote to a slide.

The Basics of Displaying Quotes in PowerPoint

PowerPoint presentations are a great way to showcase quotes, as they can be used to emphasize key points or to add visual appeal.

To display quotes in PowerPoint, there are several steps to consider.

First, it is important to pick the right font and font size that will make the quote stand out.

Depending on the quote, different font types can be used to convey different messages.

For example, a more formal quote may be presented in a serif font, while a casual quote may be presented in a sans serif font.

Additionally, the font size should be adjusted to ensure the quote is visible to the audience.

Next, the quote should be added to the slide, either as text or as an image.

If the quote is added as text, consider adding a background image or color to further highlight the quote.

This will help the quote stand out and draw attention to the message.

Adding an image of the quote can also be effective, as it can add a unique visual element to the presentation.

Finally, consider adding animations or transitions to the slide to draw attention to the quote.

Animations can be used to make the quote appear on the slide with a flourish, while transitions can be used to transition to the quote with a subtle effect.

Both of these features can help bring the quote to life and make it more memorable to the audience.

By following these steps, it is possible to display quotes in PowerPoint effectively and in a way that will capture the audiences attention.

With the right design elements, quotes can be an effective way to capture the audiences attention in a PowerPoint presentation.

Choosing a Font and Font Size

When it comes to displaying quotes in PowerPoint, the font and font size you choose can play a major role in creating an engaging presentation.

When selecting a font, youll want to choose one that will make the quote stand out and be easily readable for your audience.

A sans serif font, such as Arial or Calibri, is generally a good choice, as they are simple and easy to read.

For font size, youll want to make sure that the quote is large enough to be easily readable from a distance.

A good rule of thumb is to choose a font size that is at least 24 points.

Additionally, you may want to consider using bold or italics to further emphasize the quote.

By carefully selecting a font and font size, you can ensure that the quote stands out and can be easily read by your audience.

Adding the Quote to the Slide

Adding the quote to the slide is an important step in creating an effective PowerPoint presentation.

First, you need to select a font and font size that is appropriate for the quote.

The font should be easily readable and the size should be large enough to stand out.

If the quote is particularly long, you may need to use a smaller font size to fit it all onto the slide.

Once you’ve selected the font and font size, you can add the quote to the slide.

You can either add the quote as text or as an image, depending on your preferences.

If you choose to add the quote as text, you can use a variety of formatting options to further emphasize the quote.

For example, you can add a drop shadow or a background color to the text.

If you choose to add the quote as an image, you can use a variety of image editing tools to manipulate the image to make it look more aesthetically pleasing.

Finally, you can add animations or transitions to the slide to draw attention to the quote.

Animations and transitions can help keep the audience engaged and can help them focus on the quote.

By combining the right design elements, you can create an eye-catching and effective quote slide for your PowerPoint presentation.

Enhancing the Quote with a Background

Adding a background to your PowerPoint slide can help to further emphasize the quote and make it stand out.

If youre using a background image, make sure it is not too distracting or busy, as this will take away from the quote.

Depending on the quote and the presentation, you may want to choose a subtle background that complements the tone of the quote, or a bolder image that will draw the audiences attention.

You can also add a background color to the slide.

If youre using an image for the quote, you may want to choose a background color that will contrast with the image.

If youre using text for the quote, try using a color that will make the text stand out.

For example, if the quote is in black, you may want to choose a lighter background color such as light blue or yellow.

If youre displaying more than one quote on a slide, you may want to consider adding different backgrounds for each quote.

This will help to keep the audience engaged and make each quote stand out.

Finally, consider adding animations or transitions to the slide.

Animations and transitions can be used to draw attention to the quote and help to keep the audience engaged.

For example, you can add a fade-in animation to the quote when it appears, or choose a transition that will move the quote across the screen.

Animations and Transitions for Extra Impact

Adding animations or transitions to a slide can make the quote stand out even more.

Using animations or transitions can draw attention to the quote and help emphasize its importance.

For example, you could add a simple fade-in animation to make the quote appear gradually on the screen.

You could also add a transition effect, such as a dissolve or a swipe, to make the quote appear more gradually.

For more impact, you could also use motion paths to move the text around the screen or add dynamic effects like spin or zoom to give the quote a more dramatic effect.

Finally, you can also use the slide transition timing to draw attention to the quote by having it pause for a few moments before transitioning to the next slide.

With the right animations and transitions, you can make sure that your quote stands out and captures the audiences attention.

Tips for Making the Quote Stand Out

When it comes to displaying quotes in PowerPoint presentations, it is important to make sure that the quote stands out amongst the other elements on the slide.

To do this, you should choose a font and font size that are eye-catching and draw attention to the quote.

Bold and italicized fonts can be used to emphasize the quote and make it stand out.

Additionally, you can use a different font color than the other elements on the slide in order to make the quote pop.

You can also use a larger font size for the quote compared to the other text on the slide.

Finally, adding a background image or color behind the quote can add contrast and further highlight the quote.

With the right design elements, the quote can be an effective way to capture the audience’s attention in a PowerPoint presentation.

Example of a Powerful Quote in a PowerPoint Presentation

A powerful quote can be an effective way to capture your audiences attention and drive home the message of your PowerPoint presentation.

When displaying quotes in PowerPoint, it is important to select a font and font size that will make the quote stand out from the rest of the text.

Additionally, adding a background image or color to further highlight the quote can help draw attention to it.

Animations or transitions can also be used to draw attention to the quote and emphasize its importance.

An example of a powerful quote that could be used in a PowerPoint presentation is Albert Einsteins famous quote, Imagination is more important than knowledge.

This quote could be used to emphasize the importance of creativity and innovation in any presentation.

To display this quote, you could select a bold font and font size to make the text stand out.

Additionally, you could add a background image or color that further emphasizes the quote.

For example, a light blue background could be used to represent knowledge, while a bright yellow background could be used to represent imagination.

Animations or transitions could also be used to draw attention to the quote as it appears on the slide.

Including quotes in PowerPoint presentations can be an effective way to capture the audiences attention and drive home the message of the presentation.

When selecting a quote, it is important to select a font and font size that will make the quote stand out.

Additionally, adding a background image or color and animations or transitions can help emphasize the importance of the quote.

Final Thoughts

Now that you know how to display quotes in PowerPoint, why not give it a try? Create a presentation that stands out with the help of quotes and see the impact it can have on your audience.

James Wilson

James Wilson has extensive knowledge in the information technology industry.His second love, besides dealing with computers, is smart home technology. He is continually updating information to better comprehend this problem and has a deep understanding of the apartment’s support system.

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Laying Out a Quote Slide in PowerPoint

In this exercise, you'll work on a Quote slide. The content in the old presentation is in the form of a bullet slide. We don't want to keep that format because it is so common. Let's do something creative with it instead.

Getting Started

1. In PowerPoint, go to File > Open to open the next project.

2. Open Quote Slide.pptx .

3. If you don't already have Content.pptx open, go ahead and open that now.

4. In the Slides list, click on Slide 4 . This is the quote we'll use in our new presentation.

Setting Up the Content

1. Go to the Quote Slide file. To switch windows:

• Mac: Go to Window > Quote Slide (or press Cmd–Tilde (~))
• Windows: In the View tab, click the Switch Windows button and choose Quote Slide.pptx (or press Alt-Tab).

2. Click on the What Is Coworking? slide (Slide 2). We do this so that when we add a new slide, it will go after this one.

3. Click on the Home tab if it's not already selected.

4. Click the arrow part of the New Slide button to show different slide templates.

5. From the list of slides, choose Blank .

6. Switch to the Insert tab and click the Text Box button.

7. On the slide, drag the cursor to create a medium-sized text box:

8. In the (Shape) Format tab, on the right, set Height to 3.24" and Width to 6.86."

9. To get the quote from the Content.pptx presentation, do the instruction for your platform (last time we are giving instructions on how to switch windows!):

10. In Content.pptx , highlight the quote that starts with Data from ... and ends with ...every major city.

11. Copy it.

12. Switch back to Quote Slide.pptx .

13. Do the instruction for your platform to paste the text:

• Mac: Go into Edit > Paste Special . In the dialog, choose Unformatted Text and click OK .
• Windows: Right-click on the second text box's bounding box and from the Paste Options, select Keep Text Only.

14. Click on the text box's bounding box so we can change the text formatting.

15. Align the text to the left. (In the Home tab, in the Paragraph section, click the Align Left button. Mac: You can also go to Format > Alignment > Align Left ).

16. In the Font section, click the Increase Font Size button  once to change the font size to 28 .

17. With the bounding box still selected, click the Bold button to remove the bold formatting.

18. Click the arrow part of the Font Color button, and under the second theme color, choose Blue-Gray, Text 1, Darker 25% (second from bottom).

19. Let's center the box on the page. With the bounding box still selected, in the Home tab, in the Drawing section, click the Arrange button and go to Align > Align Center . Alternatively, Mac users can choose Arrange > Align or Distribute > Align Center .

20. While holding Option (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows), drag the leftmost center resizing handle; drag it to the right until only the words major city are on the fifth line.

NOTE: Holding Option (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows) while dragging equally resizes multiple sides of a box (two if dragging from an edge resizing handle and all four sides if dragging from a corner resizing handle).

Formatting Lines

Let's create horizontal dividers above and below the text.

1. In the Insert tab, click the Shapes button, and under Lines , select the first one, Line .

2. Starting above the top-left corner of the text box, hold Shift and drag right to create a horizontal line.

3. Click the Arrange button and go to Align > Align Center .

4. Let's create another line under the text box. While holding Option–Shift (Mac) or Ctrl-Shift (Windows), click on the line and drag a duplicate under the text box. (If a menu appeared when you released your mouse, select Copy Here .)

5. Select both lines.

6. In the (Shape) Format tab to the right next to Width , click on the down arrow a few times to try it out:

7. Notice that the line width is only decreasing on one side, making the line off-center. Let's try a different method.

8. Get the lines back to normal by clicking the up arrow.

9. Right-click on one of the lines and select Group > Group .

10. Hold Option (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows) and drag the resize handle of either line left or right to adjust the size of the lines to match the length of the text box.

11. Use the example below to adjust the position of the lines:

12. Let's change the color of the lines. In the (Shape) Format tab, in the Shape Styles section, click the arrow part of the Shape Outline button (Mac) or (Windows) to reveal color options.

13. Select the fourth theme color, Dark Blue, Text 2 . Looking suave!

Adding Credentials

1. In the Insert tab, click the Text Box button.

2. To the lower right of the quote, drag out a small text box, as shown below:

3. Add to the box:

• Jennifer Bane
• Actionable Study Group

4. Adjust the box size until it is big enough to hold all the text.

5. Align the text to the right. As a reminder: In the Home tab's Paragraph section, click the Align Right button. You can also hit Cmd–R (Mac) or Ctrl–R (Windows).

6. Click into the text box and add an endash (–) and a space before the name so that the text reads: – Jennifer Bane . To type an endash, press Option–Hyphen (Mac) or Alt–Number pad 0150 (Windows).

NOTE: You can also add an endash this way:

• Mac: Insert menu > Symbol > Punctuation > En Dash .
• Mac 2: Insert tab > Symbol > Punctuation > En Dash .
• Windows: Insert tab > Symbol > Subset: General Punctuation > En Dash .

7. Select Actionable Study Group .

8. In the Home tab, click the arrow part of the Text Fill button and choose the fifth theme color, Lime, Accent 1 .

9. In the Home tab, click the Bold button to unbold the text.

10. Change the font size to 18 pt.

Adding Quotation Marks

Let's add some huge quotation marks.

1. On the top left of the slide, drag out a text box like the one shown below. Don't remember how to create a text box? In the Insert or Home tab, click the Text Box button.

2. Type a double quotation mark (").

3. Click on the bounding box so we can style it to our liking.

4. Make the font size 200 .

5. In the Home tab, click the arrow part of the Font Color button and under the seventh theme color in the fourth row, select Green, Accent 3, Lighter 40% . (This is the last time we're going to give explicit instructions on how to change font color!)

6. Select the quotation mark text's bounding box and copy it.

7. Paste it!

8. Arrange the quotation marks as shown below:

The quotation mark is facing the wrong direction. Let's rotate it 180 degrees.

9. Slightly above the text box, notice the white circular arrow . It enables us to rotate the selected object.

10. Hold Shift and drag the white circular arrow to rotate the quotation mark 180° . The end quotation mark is now correct.

11. Drag the text box to position the quotation mark slightly below the Actionable Study Group text.

Creating a New Master on the Fly

You may realize that you have several slides with the same type of quote. Time to make a master slide out of the quote slide for consistency.

1. Select all the objects on the slide.

2. Copy them.

3. Go into the View tab, then click the Slide Master button.

4. In the Slides list, click on the third slide down (Title and Content).

5. In the Slide Master tab, near the far left, click the Insert Layout button, and the new master will be added as the fourth slide.

6. Delete the title placeholder that shows up on the new slide.

7. Paste to place all quote the objects on the slide.

8. Change the Quote to say Quote text...

9. Change – Jennifer Bane to – Source .

10. Change Actionable Study Group to Company .

11. In the Slides list, Right-click on the slide and choose Rename (Mac) or Rename Layout (Windows). Name it Quote Slide and press Return/Enter .

12. Close the Slide Master by clicking its button.

13. In the Slides list, click on the last slide of the presentation so the slide we're about to add will go after it.

14. In the Home tab, click on the arrow part of the New Slide button.

15. Choose the new Quote Slide template (third one in the top row).

16. Now try to edit the text on that slide. You can't do it!

Fixing the Master Slide by Replacing Text Boxes with Editable Placeholders

The slide's text is not editable because those were just text boxes on the master page, and what we need are placeholders. So we need to go back to the master and add placeholders instead. Along the way, we'll need to style the text in the placeholders to match the text boxes. We'll do so quickly and easily using the Format Painter, which is like copying and pasting styles.

1. Go into the View tab, then click the Slide Master button.

2. In the Quote Slide master, click on the text box that says: Quote text...

3. In order to create a placeholder that's the same size as the text box, we need to see its dimensions. Right-click on the bounding box and choose Size and Position .

4. On the right, note the Width, Height, Horizontal position, and Vertical position. In real life, you would write these down. But for now we know they are around: Height: 3.01" Width: 6.3" Horizontal position: 1.85" Vertical position: 2.19"

5. In the Slide Master tab, click the arrow part of the Insert Placeholder button, and choose Text .

6. Draw a small box above the quote text box. It will be filled with Click to edit Master text styles , which indicates it's a placeholder.

7. Delete all the text from the placeholder.

8. There is still that pesky bullet sitting there. Right-click on it and choose Bullets then None.

9. Into the new placeholder, type: Quotation...

To copy the exact text formatting from the quotation in the text box to the word Quotation in the placeholder, we will use the Format Painter.

10. Place the cursor into any of the text in the main quotation (Quote text...).

11. Go to the Home tab, then near the far left, click Format  (Mac) or Format Painter  (Windows). The cursor will change to have a paintbrush next to it.

12. Click and drag with the paintbrush over the text Quotation... That takes care of the text formatting. One more thing.

13. In the Format Shape panel on the right, click on Text Options (near the top), then the Textbox button.

14. Under Vertical alignment , choose Middle .

15. Now we can delete the original text box with the Quote text... quotation. Go ahead and delete the big quote in the middle.

16. Right-click on the new Quotation... box and choose Size and Position .

17. Put in the following values (which are from the box we just deleted):

• Height: 3.01"
• Width: 6.3"
• Horizontal position: 1.85"
• Vertical position: 2.19"

18. Now let's test it out. Close the Slide Master (in the Slide Master tab).

19. Look at the quote slide you created that is not editable. Notice that the quote box is gone, but the new placeholder is also missing.

This is an essential thing to know about PowerPoint. When you add a new element to a master slide, it does not show up on existing slides. To get it to appear, we need to reapply the slide's layout. Let's do that next.

20. In the list of slides on the left, make sure the Quotation slide is selected.

21. In the Home tab, in the Slides section, click the Layout button.

22. Click on the Quote Slide template.

23. Hey, the new quote placeholder is now there, and editable. Type in a quote!

24. For more practice, let's create two more placeholders for the quote's attribution and the company name. Go back into the Slide Master  via the View tab.

25. In the Slide Master tab, click the arrow part of the Insert Placeholder button, and choose Text .

26. Draw a small box above the Source placeholder.

27. Delete all the text from the placeholder.

28. Right-click on the pesky bullet that's still there. Choose Bullets then None .

29. Into the new placeholder, type: – Attribution

30. To copy the exact text formatting from the – Source text box to the new placeholder's word – Attribution, we will use the Format Painter. Place the cursor in the – Source text.

31. Go to the Home tab, then click Format  (Mac) or Format Painter  (Windows) to get the paintbrush cursor.

32. Click and drag with the paintbrush over the text – Attribution . Great.

33. Align the text in that box to the right.

Now let's create a separate box for the company name (we have to do this because PowerPoint will only let us use one text style per placeholder box).

34. Draw a small text placeholder below the – Attribution placeholder. It will be filled with Click to edit Master text styles .

35. Delete all the text from the placeholder.

36. Right-click on the pesky bullet that's still there. Choose Bullets then None .

37. Into the new placeholder, type: Company Name

38. To copy the exact text formatting from the old text box to the new placeholder, we will use the Format Painter. Place the cursor in the Company text.

39. Go to the Home tab, then click Format (Mac) or Format Painter (Windows) to get the paintbrush cursor.

40. Click and drag with the paintbrush over the text Company Name .

41. Align the text in that box to the right.

42. Resize the two placeholders you just created to be snug around the text (but leave plenty of space on the left side in case the name typed into the box is long).

43. Now drag each of those placeholders right over the old text boxes. Move them by eye until they line up.

Deleting Objects That Are Obscured by Other Objects

The new placeholders are covering up the older group of text boxes, so how do we get rid of those two boxes? There are different solutions on Mac and Windows, so do the instructions for your platform.

Mac Users Only: The Reorder Objects Feature

Let us introduce you to the Reorder Objects feature, a nifty 3D tool that allows you to move and reorder several layers all at once!

1. Right-click on the bounding box of any object on the page.

2. Choose Reorder Objects . You will see a series of 3D panes that illustrate how the objects on your Quote Master are ordered.

3. Find the pane that has – Source and Company on it (probably around the sixth from the right).

4. Drag that pane to the right so it is the first pane.

5. Click OK to exit Reorder Objects.

6. Click off any boxes that might be selected.

7. To delete the – Source and Company text boxes, click on the group's bounding box and press the Delete key.

Windows Users Only: Using the Selection Pane

Let us introduce you to the Selection Pane, which allows you to rename and reorder the objects on your slide!

1. In the Home tab's Editing section on the far right, click the Select button and from the menu choose Selection Pane .

2. In the Selection Pane that appears on the right, find the two Group headings. These numbers differ between trials.

3. Click on the Group that has two TextBox objects nested inside. (It's probably on top of the other group, which contains the two dotted lines.)

4. We want to delete this, but let's first learn how we can rename objects on the slide. Double–click on the selected word Group, and the name will become editable.

5. Delete all the text, replace it with: Source & Company group , and press Enter .

TIP: Renaming objects in the Selection Pane is very handy when you plan on animating a slide with a lot of objects on it. If you do the final bonus exercise at the end of the book, you'll see that objects in PowerPoint's list of animations have names such as Rectangle. Renaming objects before animating can save you time in the long run so you know exactly what you're animating.

6. With Source & Company group still selected, press the Backspace key to delete the entire group.

Finishing Up

1. Close the Slide Master by clicking its button.

2. In the list of slides on the left, make sure the Quotation slide is still selected.

3. In the Home tab, in the Slides section, click the Layout button.

4. Click on the Quote Slide template.

5. Now enter some text into the attribution and company name placeholders.

6. Congrats on creating a new master. You can save and close the file now.

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Related Resources

PowerPoint: Setting Up Master Slides

Using Master Slides enables you to easily establish a consistent, coordinated look throughout a presentation, and it saves you time and energy! In this exercise, you'll lay out the Slide Master, which serves as a template for all content slides.

PowerPoint: Testing Master Slides

In this exercise, you will test out both the Title Master and the Slide Master you customized to see them in action.

Using Images in PowerPoint

In this exercise, we will add a logo image to the Title Master. We'll also use the Line tool to create some visual separation from the logo and the titles.

How to Create the Perfect Quotes Slide (with Examples)

Table of contents, what is a quotes slide.

A quotes slide is a PowerPoint slide that highlights one or more customer quotes. It is generally used to communicate one or more customer’s opinions word-for-word.

When should you use a quotes slide?

In most cases, consulting slide decks use quantitative data (i.e. numbers) to make their arguments. However, there are some situations where using qualitative data (such as quotes) is more powerful.

Quotes slides should be used when you want to communicate things like opinions, attitudes, beliefs, or preferences. They are a powerful way to communicate a message directly “from the horses mouth” with no analysis or synthesis to cloud the message.

They are particularly useful when communicating the results of customer research or highlighting customer testimonials. Because of this, they are often paired with one-on-one interviews, focus groups, observational studies, and other forms of qualitative research.

Best practices and key characteristics

Although you have quite a bit of flexibility when designing quotes slides, there are some best practices you should follow to ensure they are clear and compelling:

• Highlight key parts of quotes:  When quoting verbatim, your customer might not be as concise as you’d like. So you should highlight the key insights within the quotes with a different text color or background color.
• Shorten quotes sensibly:  It is fine to shorten quotes and remove redundant phrases, but you should follow proper stylistic guidelines (e.g. using ellipses or “…” correctly) and maintain your customer’s key message.
• Reference all of your quotes: Every quote should reference the customer name (or anonymous identifier) and any other key characteristic, such as their business name, occupation, or another important grouping.
• Group similar quotes together:  If you’re communicating multiple customer opinions together on one slide, you should group quotes with similar opinions together.
• Use the minimum number of quotes possible: Don’t be tempted to throw as many quotes as possible on your slide, you should identify the most powerful quotes and use the minimum number to make your point — otherwise your slide gets messy and confuses its message.

Download 120+ strategy consulting presentations for free

Looking for slide inspiration? Download 120+ consulting slide decks from top strategy consulting firms, such as McKinsey, BCG and Bain!

Example quotes slides

Let’s take a look at a range of example quotes slides from both consulting firms and other sources.

If you’re interested in checking out more slides from consulting firms, such as McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Kearney, L.E.K Consulting and others, then check out our strategy consulting slide library .

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Creative Ways Of Representing Powerpoint Quotes

Home > Presentation Ideas > Presentation Graphics > PowerPoint Quotes

Many presenters have the habit of using quotes from well-known personalities, research or experts as part of their presentation. Relevant quotes strengthen a point in the presentation, provide a change from the general flow and show the audience you have done your research.

But quotes need to be showcased properly in PowerPoint to make an impact. Here are 5 ways in which you can showcase a relevant quote to your presentation.

This is the typical way in which presenters put up their slides. You may have seen motivational presentations, with a collection of quotes that use this format.

This image at the back overwhelms the message. Another more stylish option suggested is to use this format of quote with image of expert:

While this format is much better, visually, remember your business audience may not really be interested in seeing what the expert looks like. They are more interested in understanding your source and logic. An image, especially a face, calls audience attention away from your message.

If you would like to create an interesting sticky note background for your text, read this effect tutorial here >>

Here are 5 alternate creative ways of representing quotes in PowerPoint:

Creative idea 1: break up the components of the quote:.

If the quote consists of 3 or 4 points which you want audience to pay attention to, you can break it up and show it clearly.  Here is the way we showcased a quote from an interview. The presentation slide plainly shows the key points of the expert’s comment.

This quote template is taken from our Lists Templates – PowerPoint Charts CEO Pack .

Creative idea 2: Use a creative text box

Call attention to the quote by using an innovative text box. In this example below, we used a platform with a stylish text box on top to call attention to a long-ish quote. If you use such long quotes when presenting, remember to allow your audience a few moments to read through before continuing your talk.

Read : How to create such a 3D platform in this PowerPoint tutorial.

Creative idea 3: Use a suitable image

Based on the nature of your presentation, you can use an image that doesn’t overpower your quote. In this case, we used a simple image of a light bulb to represent an important presentation idea.  What is the idea you want to convey with your quote?

Creative idea 4: Use innovative PowerPoint quotes box

Here are 2 simple ways to represent quotes in a quote box. The professional bevels, shading and colors make the quote box stand out.

Creative idea 5: Use Image backgrounds

You can find various public domain images or images from Microsoft Clipart collection to find suitable “blank” images. This will help you represent your ideas in a creative way.

You can use images of billboards, advertising spaces, brick walls etc. to present your PowerPoint quote creatively.

Conclusion about using quotes in PowerPoint:

Presenting quotes from experts or research results is a way to support your presentation ideas. Represent them creatively and keep your audience engaged and focused on your message. Related: PowerPoint Tutorial to Create Torn paper and burnt paper Effect for representing quotes

Return to Top of Creative PowerPoint Quotes

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PowerPoint Quotes: Effectively Harnessing Quotes in Presentations to Make an Impact with Words

Have you ever wondered why all great speakers use quotes? Quotes are versatile. They add a touch of flair to speeches, enhance the credibility of the message, stimulate the mind, establish a connection with the audience, and much more. Incorporate PowerPoint quotes into your presentations as well!

When placed strategically and thoughtfully, quotes can be invaluable for your presentation. Today, we will show you why and how to skillfully integrate the technique of “PowerPoint Quotes” into your PowerPoint presentation.

With motivation comes success

All you need is a goal, a quote, and a love for your presentation topic. It’s not just about delivering a presentation and feeling relieved when it’s over. Anyone can do that. Y ou want to leave something with your audience – not just a positive impression, but to convince, inspire, fascinate, and above all, motivate.

Whether it’s prompting your audience to purchase your product, book a service, or increase attendance for your seminars and exhibitions, words have incredible power . Once you are aware of this, you have already taken the first step towards delivering a compelling presentation.

Finding the right words

Quotes have the allure of being special. They make us admire others for their wise words, provoke thought, motivate us, become company philosophies for startups and businesses, or simply make us smile. Harness this impact for your presentation and emphasize important ideas with impactful words.

The art of PowerPoint quotes and the benefits of using them

You can leverage the following advantages when using a PowerPoint quote:

• Reinforce your statements: Quotes serve as a second voice in your presentation, validating your theses and ideas. A quote can be impactful either because the author carries a certain authority or because the quote itself is highly meaningful. A seemingly simple statement from a person with an authoritative character sheds new light on the matter.
• Enhance your credibility: Be the expert in your field and demonstrate that you are always up-to-date through thorough research. Quoting other experts and acknowledging their work shows that you are extensively prepared and knowledgeable about your research field.
•  Establish a personal connection with the audience: Quotes, with their unique effect, bridge the gap between the audience and the speaker, putting them on the same level.
• Stimulate the minds of the listeners: Inspirational quotes can generate new ideas to solve problems or reinvigorate old projects. Consider incorporating quotes into your brainstorming sessions as well.
• Inspiration: Regardless of what you are presenting, your goal should always be to inspire your audience and spark interest in new ideas, plans, or products. And what better way to achieve that than by emphasizing your statements with a memorable quote? It’s the perfect finishing touch to your presentation. • Add variety to your slides and speech: It’s no secret that long, complex, information-heavy presentations can be tiring. Therefore, incorporate quotes to wake up your listeners before it becomes too dry!
• Summarize: Certain quotes can serve as a summary of your theses and thoughts on a topic. Use a quote to bring your statements back to a central idea and reinforce what you have said
• Structure: Separate chapters, for example, the beginning or end of a topic
• Leave a lasting impression: Quotations help people remember your presentation because they are often precise and presented in a memorable format. (After all, that was the reason you chose to use quotes, right?)

A good quote clarifies and elaborates on an idea or thought and provides inspiration. Quotes motivate the audience to join you because the power of ideas, when elegantly and memorably expressed, can have a significant impact on listeners.

For example, Leo Widrich, co-founder of Buffer, began promoting his products by telling stories, which led to a significant increase in sales. Scientific research also confirms that stories, poems, and quotes have a unique effect on the audience . You can read more about this in the next paragraph.

Why PowerPoint quotes help you and how the brain processes them

To understand why quotes are beneficial, it helps to examine the audience’s reaction more closely. PowerPoint presentations that contain numerous and complex pieces of information activate two parts of the brain: the Broca’s area and the Wernicke’s region. These parts of the brain process language and decode the meaning of words. Therefore, in such an informative presentation, the brain undergoes a pure decoding process.

However, when we hear stories, our brains react differently and in a much more extensive manner. When this happens, not only do the language regions of our brains become active, but also the parts we use when we experience events ourselves . Leo Widrich explains that “when someone tells us about the delicious taste of certain foods, our sensory cortex is activated. When it comes to movement, our motor cortex is activated. So, a story can activate the entire brain.”

The scent of fresh coffee in the morning or the softness of the sheets on our bed are stored in our brains. Therefore, when someone tells a story, our brains want to link the information with similar experiences that are already stored there. In this process, the part of the brain called the insular cortex is activated. It helps us relate what is being told to things we have already experienced in the past, such as feelings of joy, pain, or success.

As our brains automatically make connections with stored experiences, stories, metaphors, images, and quotes can have a particularly significant effect. By using them, the brain becomes actively involved in the presentation. So, if you incorporate a memorable quote along with a relevant image into a presentation, your audience will automatically establish a connection with what is being said that goes beyond mere information absorption.

Read our article on storytelling here .

Which quotes are suitable as PowerPoint quotes

Sometimes you come across a sentence in a book that you really like, or you are inspired by quotes from famous individuals such as athletes, politicians, artists, or philosophers – it doesn’t matter where you find them, what matters is that you find thematically relevant words.

Always remember to entertain your audience to some extent. However, don’t overdo it, as t he right quote chosen at the right time can be invaluable. O ne or at most two quotes in the presentation are sufficient. Too much of a good thing always has a detrimental effect. Use quotes sparingly. Therefore, do not make a mistake and take enough time to research the quote beforehand. A carefully chosen, good quote is better than ten randomly selected PowerPoint quotes.

When is the right time for powerpoint quotes?

When to use PowerPoint quotes d epends on the context and flow of your presentation . Here are a few suggestions:

• Starting your presentation with a quote can have a powerful impact and help capture your audience’s attention right from the beginning (we all know how important the opening of a speech is). However, be cautious about the type of quotes you use and ensure they are relevant and impactful. Beginning your presentation with a PowerPoint quote is a classic approach. Ideally, choose a quote that introduces your topic and resonates with you as a speaker, making an immediate connection with your audience.

For example, you can start with the quote:

“Words may inspire, but actions create change.” Simon Sinek

• Incorporating quotes in the middle part of your presentation can be particularly useful as they can reinforce and support your arguments. Introduce quotes after discussing specific sections or topics to provide closure. Including a quote in the middle adds variety and makes your presentation more digestible.

“Don’t worry about failures, you only have to be right once.” Drew Houston

• Take a break and let your audience read the quote themselves. Use quotes strategically to your advantage, especially if they are visually presented with images or other elements. As you shouldn’t be reading directly from your slides, this gives you a moment to pause and breathe before continuing.

“Taking a break is the most underestimated productivity factor” K. Wolf

Remember to be creative and have fun while presenting your quote. However, ensure that PowerPoint quotes align with your topic . Randomly selected quotes can disrupt the flow of your presentation and confuse your audience. Spark interest and bring humor to your presentation, but always keep your main topic in mind.

Note: When to avoid PowerPoint quotes

Avoid ending your presentation with a quote . Trust your own words to provide a strong conclusion. Ending with someone else’s words can convey a sense of uncertainty and lack of confidence. While it is possible to incorporate a quote near the end of your presentation, especially if it summarizes the content or ties back to the beginning, always make sure that the final words are your own. Remember, you want to leave a lasting impression with the conclusion of your presentation.

What else you need to consider when using PowerPoint quotes

A quote represents the intellectual property of another person, and just like with images, it is essential to give credit to the author. Include the source immediately after the quote. For example:

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” Mark Twain

Extra tip: Quote slides from PresentationLoad

Feel free to use our professionally designed quote slides for your presentation. We offer a wide selection of quotes from various (business) areas that can help you make a convincing impact. Take a look around ► To the shop

Conclusion: Use PowerPoint quotes in moderation for maximum success

Embrace the many benefits they bring to your presentations, but be mindful not to overload your slides with quotes. Take the time to carefully select and incorporate quotes into your preparation. With a fitting, impactful, and well-placed quote, you’re sure to impress your audience!

If you need help finding a PowerPoint quote or have any other PowerPoint-related questions, feel free to contact us at [email protected] . We’re here to assist you!

You are looking for professionally designed slide templates ? Then check out our shop. We have numerous slides ready for download on a wide range of (business) topics. Visit our shop today! ► Go to the shop

You may also find these articles interesting:

• Closing a Presentation: 20 Ideas for a Successful Conclusion
• Presentation Opening: 16 Ideas for a Strong Start
• Storytelling in Presentations

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Nov 09 2011

Tips for Using Quotes in PowerPoint Presentations

I love quotes. (c)Thinkstock

When you’re trying to add more emphasis or credibility to a key point in your presentation, a quote can come in handy. I’m a fan of a good, well-placed quote. I’ve even assembled a humble collection of PowerPoint-related quotes . However, just like inappropriate or tired images can detract from your content, so can poorly-chosen or over-used quotes. I thought I’d share some thoughts and tips on using quotes in PowerPoint presentations.

Two types of quotes

I’ve found that good quotes fall into two main categories:

• Powerful quote because of who uttered it: Sometimes who stated the quote is just as important as what was said. If you have a quote by someone highly respected or highly relevant to your topic (e.g., your competitor’s CEO), the quote gains credibility and potency simply by who stated it. The opposite effect can also happen. For example, I found a great quote by Richard Nixon – but I decided against using it because it came from the disgraced former US president.
• Powerful quote despite who uttered it: In some cases, the quote is so insightful or appropriate that it doesn’t really matter who said it. Generally, it’s hard to find quotes that don’t come from some reasonably respected source, but the quoted individual might be fairly obscure and not familiar to your audience. I like to do a Wikipedia search on the individual to find out more about their background and make sure that nothing in their past would conflict with the point I’m trying to make. In a few instances, I found a great quote by an unfamiliar person but when I researched the author I found they had a checkered past, which soured me on using their quotes.

Which type of quotes do you tend to use? Do you tend to favor one type over another? At the end of the day it comes down to the appropriateness or relevance of the quote to your content. If it’s credited to someone well-respected or well-known, then you don’t have to worry about explaining who the author is. In the case of the second option, you might need to indicate who they are (e.g., first female boxer, 18th-century English poet. etc.).

Finding good quotes

Two of the best sites for finding good quotes are Brainyquote.com and Thinkexist.com . Both have extensive selections of quotes. One of the challenges of finding good quotes is getting the right keyword. Without the right keyword, you might not identify the quote you need. Experiment with different synonyms as well as plural forms. For example, simply trying “tools” instead of “tool” opened up better quotes during a recent quote search I was performing.

In addition, some of the best sources of inspirational quotes are collections of quotes for particular topics (e.g., motivation, success, design, adversity, etc.). The advantage of these collections is that they don’t necessarily contain a specific keyword. Sometimes you can be limited by the terms you search for. I’ve found these quote collections by searching for the topic by including “quotes and sayings” in your search.  A good example of one of these sites is quotegarden.com , which has quotes by a variety of topics. If you’re a fan of using quotes, I also recommend keeping track of our favorite quotes as you find them by keeping them in a single document so you can easily find them when you need them.

Verify your quotes

Check out Ralph Keyes book!

When you choose a quote, you’ll want to be sure to get the right source . Sometimes a popular quote will be attributed to several different people. You might want to double-check who the most likely source was using Wikiquote or Ralph Keyes’ Quote Verifier book . I would also recommend checking on quotes that are deemed to be “anonymous” or “author unknown”. I found a great quote (“Words divide us, action unites us”) that was supposedly from an unknown author until I discovered it was actually the slogan of a South American terrorist group (Uruguay’s Tupamaros). Yikes. Finally, you may want to check the context of the quote (if it’s even possible to ascertain). You may interpret the quote differently than the way the author intended. Sometimes it won’t matter if you’re using the quote out of context, but in other situations the context may be critical.

Short and sweet

For presentations, I’d recommend using short quotes that are quick reads for your audience – say no more than a couple of lines (less than 15 words). Occasionally, I might use a longer quote but the payoff needs to be worth the increased text. Some quoted people have the talent to express things more succinctly (Albert Einstein – succinct, Bill Gates – verbose). Make sure you’re not passing up a more succinct quote simply because you’ve settled on the first relevant quote you’ve found.

The top quote is really short. The second quote is pushing the length limits (one of my favorite quotes BTW).

Quotes and images

Typically, I’ve seen quotes presented in three methods. First, you may choose to feature the quote without any images (e.g., white text on a dark background). With a minimalist approach your audience isn’t distracted from focusing on the key point or message within the quote. You can emphasize key parts of the quote with italics, bold, color, size, font, etc. (check out this blog post for some inspiration ). If the author of the quote is well-known and important to the quote, you may decide to include a picture of the individual who stated it (see below). Third, you may choose to emphasize the message (and not the author) by tying the quote to a descriptive image . There is no preferred way, and the best approach will depend on your audience, your message, and what you’re trying to achieve.

Here you see three versions of the same quote using different approaches (text, author image, and topic image).

Interestingly, the often-quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson once stated, “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.” Quotes aren’t substitutes for good content, but they can reinforce good content. You can quote me on that!

• A Humble Collection of PowerPoint Quotes
• Seven Tips for Using Analogies in PowerPoint Presentations
• Five Tips for Finding Good Images for Your Next Presentation
• 8 Tips for Effective Team PowerPoint Presentations

Tags: quotation , quotes , tips

Comments (6)

6 Responses to “Tips for Using Quotes in PowerPoint Presentations”

[…] Dykes shows how to incorporate quotes into slides. When you’re trying to add more emphasis or credibility […]

Great Tips here on many aspects of quotes.

I really appreciate the information.

This is great because people are naturally curious about what others think. And if that person is an expert in the field, or anyone of notoriety, that quote has even more weight. A quote can also enhance a somewhat bland design if it is in a beautiful font and featured prominently on a slide. Quotes can be a great way to break up a copy heavy presentation, especially if the client insists on not cutting any of the content.

I agree about the length of good quotes – around 15 words is a useful guide (based on taking about 3 seconds to read it). And nice example about the motto of the terrorist group — looks like I should check the quotes I use!

Here’s 6 more tips, with an example quote by Garr Reynolds and one from Nancy Duarte’s new book: http://remotepossibilities.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/how-to-use-quotes-in-your-presentation-tips-six-minutes/

[…] used to start a new topic area, reiterate a point or add a little humor. I found a website called PowerPointNinja which features an article devoted to using quotes in PowerPoint. You may find some of the quotes […]

I wish to say your post is amazing.When I was doing my presentation I searched for some tips for designing the template.I came to visit your article and gained some useful information.Thanks for your contribution.

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How To Create Attention-Grabbing Presentation Quotes

Nata kostenko.

• May 23, 2018

There’s a trend in presentation design to illustrate data with stories.

Stories help people to emotionally connect to the narrative, and thus understand the information better.

Sometimes a presenter can tell a story in his or her own words. Yet, quite often, there is a quote that perfectly fits the flow of the presentation and sums everything up .

And that’s why the best presenters don’t memorize meaningful quotes; they design slides for them.

Depending on how well things are done, these presentation quote slides can either become a distraction, or an instrument to enhance the discussion.

I assume you’d go for the latter option?

If so, I’m here to help. Here are some suggestions to help you make a beautiful and powerful quote slide for your next presentation.

Tip 1: Combine Two Fonts

First things first, understand  exactly what your quote is about.

What kind of person said the phrase?

Is it a fluffy quote?

Was it said by a CEO of a big company ?

A famous artist maybe?

Answering these questions will help you get an idea of what fonts to use.

Now, go to Google Fonts  and check the boxes that are relevant to the style you have in mind.

A good tactic to use is to combine handwriting fonts with Sans Serif ones. Or, you could even choose an uppercase bold font with a sentence case thin italic.

Whatever choice you make, just make sure it fits the context of the quote.

Tip 2: Insert a Quote Symbol

I know, this might be an obvious trick. But using a quote symbol can be effective.

This way, your audience won’t need to think twice about what they’re looking at. It’ll be clear as night and day. Plus, you’re making the quote really easy to digest. It’s a double win!

By the way, opting for a quote symbol does NOT mean that you add quotation marks to your text and call it a day. That’s boring. We’re after creative vibes!

Think about placing the quote symbol just over the text, behind the first word, or if you’re feeling a little adventurous and know how to play with colors , behind all of the text.

Feel free to experiment and see what works!

Tip 3: Use Lines and Shapes

This tip’s easy.

All you have to do is add a simple line or shape to spice up your presentation quote.

• Experiment with dash types to create an unusual effect;
• Draw attention to the quote by putting a dotted box around it; or
• Create a circle or square around the quotes symbol.

Another solution could be working with the background of the whole slide.

For example, if you have two quotes with opposite opinions, you could add a shape of a different color to the background to divide the slide into two contrasting sections.

Play around with the ideas I suggested and see what works for you.

Tip 4: Work With Images

Think about what you would like to emphasize in the quote you’ve selected. Who said it? What was said? How do you think it was said?

Then, go ahead and find an image or illustration relevant to the quote. The image you select should add a little more emphasis and make your quote more meaningful.

Oh, and when searching for images or illustrations, be sure to check its quality before inserting it on the slide.

If you can’t find the right image, then try to come up with second level associations. For example, if the quote is about uniqueness, you can use photos of unicorns, fingerprints or Mars. Each of them highlight a different feeling.

Tip 5: Keep Your Presentation Quote Simple

It has been said many times, yet this is very important to remind: keep the slides as simple as possible .

Place the quote, mention the author, add an image and a couple of lines or shapes — that’s all you need to do .

Don’t clutter the slide with extra elements. Don’t try to impress the audience with your design skills.

A Hands-On Presentation Quote Tutorial

Looking for a hands-on guide that will teach you  exactly how to create a beautiful presentation quote?

Slide Cow published an easy to follow, step-by-step video tutorial on creating the ultimate presentation quote . It covers all of the tips in the post, and some. You should probably give it a watch.

What Would You Do?

There’s a good chance you have had some kind of experience with a presentation quote. The beautiful thing about these slides is that there’s more than one way of doing things.

So, tell me. What would you do? Would you use another tip that I didn’t cover in this post?

Just let me know in the comments section below!

Thank you. You’re very good at what you do.

Thank you so much!

Great job! These are fab-looking slides, and I’ve added a link to this page on my own post about using quotes in presentations .

I’ve also a question: I notice your quotes tend to be in all caps or all lowercase – what advice do you have to non-designers on what capitalisation to use for quotes? (Being a writer, I tend to go for sentence case every time!)

Thanks Craig!

To answer your question: it really just depends on what suits the slide’s tone. Something that exudes energy, for example, tends to be all caps. Something calm and collective tends to be lower case. It all just depends on how we want the audience to feel.

[…] of well-designed quote slides on Marc Jadoul’s blog. And for inspiration, there are some even better-looking quote slides by Nata Kostenko on the Slide Cow […]

I found your site yesterday and watched many of your awesome videos!

I notice you use some interesting fonts (Muli, Galano Grotesque, etc). Do you have any posts on some font sites you recommend or how you get creative (but still professional looking) with fonts? What are you looking for when you choose a particular font?

Also, if I already have a starting color (eg. my company’s logo color), is there a site that will do something like the Color Supply color wheel using my starting color?

Thanks for all the incredible tips. Bill

Got a project for us?

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Blog > Powerful Quotes for your PowerPoint Presentations

Powerful Quotes for your PowerPoint Presentations

07.24.20   •  #powerpointtips.

One of the most powerful ways to begin a presentation is to start by sharing a influential and morable quote that relates to the message of your talk. This can loosen up the beginning, consciously encourage important things while speaking or end the presentation with a meaningful conclusion and underline the main topic again.

This will bring liveliness and power to your presentation and create a more pleasant environment for your audience!

Quotes can be funny, inspirational, profound, successful, motivational, meaningless or basically everything! The most important thing is that they fit the today´s topic, correspond to the situation. This means, that they are appropriate and reinforce the actual theme.

If you are looking for great lines you can use in your PowerPoint or other presentations, you are perfectly right here! Read the following article to get inspired and to find a suitable citation you can use for your speech in school, work, business or anywhere and to leave an unforgettable impression on your presentation.

To save time, we have already created PowerPoint Templates below, which you can download for free!

According to time:

Quotes for Beginning

Quotes while presenting, quotes for ending.

According to category:

In case you need more specific citations, have a look at different sections of quotes:

Inspirational / Motivational

With quotations to open your presentation you can represent yourself in a great authentic and relaxed way. The audience gets an exciting insight into the upcoming topic and in the best case can relate with the citation and thus build a sympathetic bond to you as the presenter. And all this is achieved by just one simple sentence.

Powerful quotes to start your presentation

• "The secret of getting ahead is getting started." - Mark Twain
• "If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough." – Albert Einstein
• "Words may inspire but action creates change." – Simon Sinek
• "Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet." - Bob Marley
• "A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him." – David Brinkley
• "Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games." - Babe Ruth | Baseball Legend
• "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." - Bill Gates
• "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently." - Warren Buffett
• "The golden rule for every business man is this: Put yourself in your customer’s place." - Orison Swett Marden
• "You can't blame gravity for falling in love." - Albert Einstein

Using powerful citations while speaking makes your presentation much more exciting and memorable. A meaningful quotation gives your words much more power and emphasis and can additionally emphasize important things. Furthermore, if a listener hears a mentioned citation of your presentation one more time, he will most likely remember you.

Powerful quotes to reinforce essential topics

• "Some entrepreneurs think how can I make a lot of money? But a better way is to think how can I make people’s lives a lot better? If you get it right, the money will come." - Richard Branson
• "When Henry Ford made cheap, reliable cars people said, ‘Nah, what’s wrong with a horse?’ That was a huge bet he made, and it worked." - Elon Musk
• "Please think about your legacy, because you’re writing it every day." – Gary Vaynerchuck
• "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing it is stupid." - Albert Einstein
• "When you find an idea that you can’t stop thinking about, that’s probably a good one to pursue." – Josh James
• "Don’t worry about failure, you only have to be right once." – Drew Houston
• "You just have to pay attention to what people need and what has not been done." - Russel Simmmons
• "If people like you they’ll listen to you, but if they trust you they’ll do business with you." – Zig Ziglar
• "Don’t build links. Build relationships." – Rand Fishkin
• "There is no great genius without some touch of madness." – Seneca

With citations you have the opportunity to clarify the topic just dealt with in one sentence and it is highly recommended to use this chance. Your audience will remember the end best, as it is the shortest, so it should be well chosen and memorable. It should also match your personality as well as the theme and be catchy.

Powerful quotes to close your presentation

• "100 percent of the shots you don’t take, don’t go in." – Wayne Gretzky | Hockey Legend
• "When I’m old and dying. I plan to look back on my life and say ‘Wow, an adventure’ not, ‘Wow, I sure felt safe.’" – Tom Preston Werner
• "I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been." – Wayne Gretzy
• "It isn’t what we say or think that denies us, but what we do." – Jane Austen
• "Get action. Do things; be sane; don’t fritter away your time; create, act, take a place wherever you are and be someone; get action." – Theodore Roosevelt
• "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." – Barack Obama
• "You have to go wholeheartedly into anything in order to achieve anything worth having." – Frank Lloyd Wright
• "It always seems impossible until it’s done." – Nelson Mandela
• "I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work." – Thomas Edison
• "If you think you are too small to make an impact try going to bed with a mosquito in the room." - Ekaterina Walter

Best citations by category

• "Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value." - Albert Einstein
• "Stop chasing the money and start chasing the passion." - Tony Hsieh
• "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." - Walt Disney
• "Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere." - Albert Einstein
• "He who only does what he can will always remain what he is." - Henry Ford

• "Success is like being pregnant, everybody congratulates you, but nobody knows how many times you got fucked." - Author unknown
• "If you want your children to listen, try talking softly to someone else." - Ann Landers
• "The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
• "Anger is a hot coal that you hold in your hand while waiting to throw it at someone else." - Buddha

• "Either you run the day or the day runs you." - Jim Rohn
• "It's the will not the skill." - Jim Tunney
• "Happiness is the real sense of fulfillment that comes from hard work." - Joseph Barbara
• "I have never done that before so I should definitely be able to do it!" - Pippi Longstocking
• "The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work." - Harry Golden

• "Paying attention to simple little things that most men neglect makes a few men rich." - Henry Ford
• "The prize for success is that it unlocks harder challenges with more at stake for next time." - Author unknown
• "The opposite to good design is always bad design. There is no such thing as no design." - Adam Judge

• "A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do." - Bob Dylan
• "The whole secret of a successful life is to find out what is one’s destiny to do, and then do it." - Henry Ford
• "If you want to be happy, be happy." - Leo Tolstoy
• "So far you have survived 100% of your worst days." - Author unknown
• "Great Lessons are only learned when the stakes are high." - Georgina Hobart

• "When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity." - John F. Kennedy
• "When in doubt, don't." - Benjamin Franklin
• "The higher we are placed, the more humbly we should walk." - Marcus Tullius Cicero
• "Easy choises, hard life. Hard choices easy life." - Jerzy Gregorek
• "What you begrudge others will be withheld from yourself." - Author unknown

Now you have 60 quotes you can incorporate into your presentation to stand out from the everyday, all-too-familiar phrases that everyone knows.

But remember: Under no circumstances should they be discriminatory, racist or offensive, so you need to make yourself known in advance through your audience.

Leave your personal impression and convince your audience with simple but incredibly strong lines!

Free PowerPoint Templates

In addition, we have already created some PowerPoint templates for you, which you can download for free. Simply replace the existing quotes or image if you want and adapt the slides to your presentation!

What are good quotes for starting a presentation?

By opening your presentation with a quote you can represent yourself in an authentic way. The audience gets an exciting insight into the upcoming topic and in the best case can relate with the quote and thus build a sympathetic bond to you as the presenter. And all this is achieved by just one simple sentence. Here is a list of good quotes to begin a presentation .

What are good quotes for ending a presentation?

With citations you have the opportunity to clarify the topic just dealt with in one sentence and it is highly recommended to use this chance. Your audience will remember the end best, so it should be well chosen and memorable. It should also match your personality as well as the theme and be catchy. Here is a list of good quotes to finish a presentation .

What are powerful quotes for a PowerPoint presentation?

One of the most powerful ways to begin a presentation is to start by sharing a influential and memorable quote that relates to the message of your talk. This can loosen up the beginning, consciously encourage important things while speaking or end the presentation with a meaningful conclusion and underline the main topic again. We have collected 60 powerful quotes for your PowerPoint presentation .

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About the author.

Philipp Angerer

Philipp is a creative supporter at SlideLizard in marketing and design. There he uses his imagination and provides creative freshness, also in blog articles.

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Using Quotes to Influence Your Audience During a Presentation

April 26, 2023 / Blog

Quotes convey wisdom, inspiration, and credibility in just a few words. They can set the tone, evoke emotions , and reinforce your message.

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In this blog, we will explore using quotes to influence your audience during a presentation.

The Power of Quotes

Quotes can captivate and influence your audience in various ways. They can elevate your presentation to a whole new level when used strategically.

Here are some key ways in which quotes hold immense power:

Setting the Tone

Quotes can help you set the right tone for your presentation. For instance, an inspirational quote can create a positive and uplifting atmosphere, while a humorous quote can add levity and create a relaxed environment.

The tone you set at the beginning of your presentation can greatly impact your audience’s receptiveness to your message, and quotes can be a powerful tool in achieving that.

Eliciting Emotions

Quotes can evoke emotions in your audience, making your presentation more memorable and impactful.

Whether through a touching story, a heartfelt testimonial, or a powerful statement, quotes can tug at the heartstrings of your audience, helping them connect with your message on a deeper level. Emotionally charged quotes can make your presentation more relatable, engaging, and compelling.

Adding Credibility

Quotes from influential figures or reputable sources can add credibility and authority to your presentation.

By referencing experts, industry leaders, or renowned individuals, you can strengthen your arguments and lend more weight to your message. Quotes can act as evidence or proof to support your claims, making your presentation more convincing.

Concise Communication

Quotes are often concise and impactful, conveying a powerful message in just a few words.

Attention spans are becoming shorter and quotes are effective tools to communicate key ideas succinctly. They can help you convey complex concepts or ideas in a memorable and easily digestible manner, keeping your audience engaged and attentive.

Memorable Impact

A well-chosen quote can leave a lasting impact on your audience.

When you use a quote that resonates with your audience, it becomes memorable, and your audience is more likely to remember and recall your message long after the presentation. Quotes can help you make a lasting impression and ensure a memorable and impactful presentation.

Best Practices for Using Quotes in Your Presentation

While quotes can be a powerful tool in your presentation, it’s important to use them effectively and appropriately.

Here are some best practices to keep in mind when incorporating quotes into your presentation:

Know Your Audience

Consider your audience’s demographics, preferences, and context when selecting quotes. Choose relevant quotes that resonate with your specific audience. Avoid ones that may be offensive, controversial, or irrelevant to your audience, as they may detract from your message.

Use Reliable Sources

Ensure that the quotes you use are from reputable and reliable sources. Moreover, attribute the quote to the original author or speaker, and provide proper citations if needed. Avoid using quotes from anonymous or unknown sources, as they may lack credibility.

Keep it Concise

Choose quotes that are concise and impactful. Avoid lengthy ones that may dilute your message or lose your audience’s attention. Instead, opt for ones that can be easily understood and remembered, and that align with the overall flow of your presentation.

Contextualize the Quote

Provide context when using a quote to help your audience understand its relevance to your presentation. Explain how the quote supports your message or relates to the topic. Avoid using quotes out of context, as they may confuse or mislead your audience.

Practice Delivery

Practice delivering your quotes with proper tone, emphasis, and timing. Use appropriate gestures, facial expressions, and vocal inflections to enhance the impact of the quotes. Avoid rushing through them or reading them monotonously, as they may lose their intended effect.

Use Variety

Incorporate a variety of quotes in your presentation, including inspirational, motivational, humorous, and thought-provoking quotes. Mix up the type of quotes you use to keep your audience engaged and add depth and diversity to your presentation.

Be Authentic

Choose quotes that resonate with your style and voice. Avoid using ones that feel forced or insincere, as they may come across as inauthentic. Rather, use ones that genuinely reflect your beliefs and values to connect with your audience on a deeper level.

Practice Proper Attribution

Always give credit to the original author or speaker of the quote. Avoid taking credit for someone else’s words or ideas. Use proper attribution methods, including the author’s name, title, and source, to acknowledge and honor their work.

Using quotes strategically and effectively in your presentations can be a game-changer. By following best practices and incorporating powerful quotes into your presentation, you can connect with your audience more and leave a lasting impact that influences and inspires.

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Using Quotes in Presentations

• By: Scott Schwertly

Using secondary sources in the form of quotes during your presentation is effective because it adds credibility to your story, to your argument. It’s English 101: discuss a façade of your argument, then use a quote to support that point. The same technique can be used in a presentation to nuance and support the argument at hand. If you aren’t a known expert in the field you are discussing, it doesn’t hurt to quote from someone who is to support your claim.

A few guidelines should be followed when employing quotes in presentations, the first of which is don’t be cliché. Don’t use a quote that can be found in a fortune cookie. Don’t use a quote that will cause the audience to roll its eyes. Be original and be epic. Using a quote in a presentation should be a special occurrence, not the norm. Choose one or two that have a lingering effect, something that the audience will remember.

Again with the English 101– make sure the quote is appropriate for the subject and most importantly, make sure it adds something to the presentation. Don’t choose something that just adds time, sounds nice or fills space. Never include a superfluous quote; it will detract from your presentation, and worse, distract the audience.

Testimonials are a great way of using quotes to show the effect of a product or service. Choose the most significant, influential testimonials possible. Find testimonials that say something important in a quick, powerful way. Again, ensure that what they add is an essential point to be made in the presentation. And don’t overload a presentation with testimonials. Choose the most compelling and stick with those few . Anymore than that is grandiose and unnecessary.

Quotes should be short and to the point, especially if the words are on a slide. Too many words will fluster the audience into rushing to read through the entire quote, and it will have a less powerful effect. Present the quote, allow the audience time to hear and read the quote, and then reinforce the quote’s meaning.

The use of secondary sources shouldn’t be confined to quotes only. It’s important to nuance arguments, to show as many sides of the argument as possible with as much support as possible, and this can be done by alluding to secondary sources. As we discussed a couple weeks ago , Chimamanda Adiche does a masterful job of this in her TEDGlobal talk on the single story. She complicates, supports and strengthens her arguments by including quotes and by referencing influential people during her talk.

When used effectively, quotes can nuance, support and enrich a presentation. How have you used quotes to supplement your presentation?

Scott Schwertly

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50 quotes to enhance your presentations

• Written by: Shay O’Donnell
• Categories: Sales presentations , Visual communication
• Comments: 6

Whether you’re looking to inspire your audience, need a strong presentation starter, or want a concise soundbite to end your presentation with, using a quote in your presentation can be a great way to support your slides’ story and enhance your presentation’s flow. Presentation quotes give you – as the presenter – a moment to breathe, while the audience is reading the slide ( a reminder of why you shouldn’t be reading your quotes aloud is here ). They enable your audience to quickly and concisely understand your presentation’s key message, and give you an extra boost of credibility to boot.

The struggle comes when you have to find presentation quotes that fit your story, come from a reputable source, and have an attribution to get you through legal and compliance checks. But worry not: BrightCarbon have done the hard work for you!

We have compiled 50 presentation quotes and categorized them into 10 themes so that you can easily find a quote that resonates with your message, be it in a sales presentation, keynote speech, or training deck. All the quotes include references and attributions, so that you can sail through compliance and get on with creating a stunning presentation!

Pop this in your bookmarks tab (you’ll thank us later!), then dig in and find the perfect presentation quotes below:

Innovation quotes for presentations

• “Innovation, as I understand it, is both about doing different things as well as doing things differently.” Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Biotech Entrepreneur From an interview with Dr. Bhavana Weidman on nature.com (January 04, 2014)
• “Innovation is more than having new ideas: it includes the process of successfully introducing them or making things happen in a new way. It turns ideas into useful, practicable and commercial products or services.” John Adair, Writer on Business Leadership. Effective Innovation (2009), Revised Edition ch. 11
• “Every new thing creates two new questions and two new opportunities.” Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon From ‘The electricity metaphor for the web’s future’, presented at TED2003 (February 2003)
• “Innovation is fostered by information gathered from new connections; from insights gained by journeys into other disciplines or places; from active, collegial networks and fluid, open boundaries. “Innovation arises from ongoing circles of exchange, where information is not just accumulated or stored, but created. Knowledge is generated anew from connections that weren’t there before.” Meg Wheatley, Author and Management Consultant Leadership and the New Science (2001)
• “We are all looking for the magic formula. Well, here you go: Creativity + Iterative Development = Innovation.” James Dyson, Founder of Dyson ‘James Dyson on Innovation’,  Ingenia , Issue 24 (September 2005)

Design quotes for presentations

• “Good design begins with honesty, asks tough questions, comes from collaboration and from trusting your intuition.” Freeman Thomas, Automobile and Industrial Designer Reviving Professional Learning Communities: Strength Through Diversity, Conflict, Teamwork, and Structure (2012) p. 63
• “The urge for good design is the same as the urge to go on living. The assumption is that somewhere, hidden, is a better way of doing things.” Harry Bertoia, Artist and Designer As quoted in 1000 Chairs , Carlotte and Peter Fiell (2005) p. 66
• “People think it’s this veneer — that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” Steve Jobs, Chairman and CEO of Apple Inc. As quoted in ‘The Guts of a New Machine’, Rob Walker, The New York Times Magazine (November 30, 2003)
• “Design is redesign.” Jan Michl, Professor Emeritus, Phdr. History and Theories of Design ‘On seeing design as redesign’,  Scandinavian Journal of Design History , Issue 12 (2002) p. 7-23
• “Design is not about products, design is about relationships.” Hella Jongerius, Industrial Designer ‘Beyond the New: a search for ideals in design’, a manifesto by Hella Jongerius and Louise Schouwenberg (2015) 

Education and learning quotes for presentations

• “We are now at a point where we must educate our children in what no one knew yesterday, and prepare our schools for what no one knows yet.” Margaret Mead, Anthropologist and Author As quoted in How They Work In Indiana : Business-Education Partnerships , Andrew L. Zehner (1994)
• “The most important thing any teacher has to learn, not to be learned in any school of education I ever heard of, can be expressed in seven words: Learning is not the product of teaching. Learning is the product of the activity of learners.” John Holt, Author and Educator Growing Without Schooling , Issue   40 (1984)
• “True education means fostering the ability to be interested in something.” Sumio Iijima, Physicist ‘About myself, To the younger generation’,  Innovative Engine  (September 25, 2007)
• “If you think education is expensive — try ignorance.” ‘Ask Ann Landers’ Syndicated Advice Column (October 4, 1975)
• “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.” Plutarch, Greek Historian, Biographer, and Essayist On Listening to Lectures

Success quotes for presentations

• “Success is fucking up on your own terms.” Guillermo del Toro, Director and Producer From Portland Mercury Q&A (September 29, 2010)
• “We cannot say what brings us success. We can only pin down what blocks or obliterates success. Eliminate the downside, the thinking errors, and the upside will take care of itself. This is all we need to know.” Rolf Dobelli, Author and Businessman The Art of Thinking Clearly (2013)
• “The secret to success is the willingness to serve without aspiring for rewards.” Cham Joof, Gambian Historian Gambia, Land of our heritage,  p IV
• “Failure and success are not episodes, they are trajectories. They are tendencies, directions, pathways. Each decision, each time at bat, each tennis serve, each business quarter, each school year seems like a new event, but the next performance is shaped by what happened last time out, unless something breaks the streak. The meaning of any particular event is shaped by what’s come before.” Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Author and Management Consultant Confidence (2006)
• “Success is more than a good idea. It is timing.” Anita Roddick, Founder of The Body Shop From an interview on bookbrowse.com

Creativity quotes for presentations

• “Relaxed, playful and harmonious moments are the birth place of creativity.” Amit Ray, Author and Spiritual Master Meditation: Insights and Inspiration (2010) p. 58
• “Originality is going back to the origin and finding an empty chair. Would you gladly sit on it? No thank you. It is empty for a reason. That’s where my ass was. Not where my head is now.” Giannina Braschi, Puerto Rican Poet, Novelist, and Essayist World Literature Today (2012)
• “Creativity isn’t about the advantage or disadvantage of a specific time or culture. Creativity is something that comes internally from a human being having a genuine mistrust of rules. And that may be the constant. It’s almost like there’s some rebellion in it.” Paula Scher, Graphic Designer From an interview conducted by Neal Shaffer (2006)
• “Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple of them and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” John Steinbeck, Author Conversations with John Steinbeck , ed. Thomas Fensch (1988)
• “Creativity arises out of the tension between spontaneity and limitations, the latter (like the river banks) forcing the spontaneity into the various forms which are essential to the work of art or poem.” Rollo May, Psychologist and Author The Courage to Create (1975) p. 115

Teamwork and collaboration quotes for presentations

• “In organizations, real power and energy is generated through relationships. The patterns of relationships and the capacities to form them are more important than tasks, functions, roles, and positions.” Margaret Wheatley, Management Consultant As quoted in 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself , Steve Chandler (2004) p. 123
• “Life is not a solo act. It’s a huge collaboration.” Tim Gunn, Fashion Consultant and Author ‘Postings | Recent Entries From Our Blogs’, Tara Parker-Pope, The New York Times (December 21, 2010)
• “Collaboration is important not just because it’s a better way to learn. The spirit of collaboration is penetrating every institution and all of our lives. So learning to collaborate is part of equipping yourself for effectiveness, problem solving, innovation and life-long learning in an ever-changing networked economy.” Don Tapscott, Business Executive and Consultant ‘The spirit of collaboration is touching all of our lives’, The Globe and Mail (June 7, 2013)
• “As you navigate through the rest of your life, be open to collaboration. Other people and other people’s ideas are often better than your own. Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.” Amy Poehler, Actress, Comedian, Director and Producer From The Joy of Success: What It Means to Transform Success Into Excellence,  Tochukwu O. Okafor MPA (2013) p. 53
• “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” Michael Jordan, Basketball Hall of Fame Player and Businessman As quoted in The Victory Letters : Inspiration for the Human Race , Cheri Ruskus (2003) p. 68.

Knowledge quotes for presentations

• “While knowledge is increasingly being viewed as a commodity or intellectual asset, there are some paradoxical characteristics of knowledge that are radically different from other valuable commodities. These knowledge characteristics include the following: Using knowledge does not consume it. Transferring knowledge does not result in losing it. Knowledge is abundant, but the ability to use it is scarce. Much of an organization’s valuable knowledge walks out the door at the end of the day.” Kimiz Dalkir, Director at McGill School of Information Studies Knowledge Management in Theory and Practice, 2nd ed . (2011)
• “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” Carl Sagan, Astronomer and Popular Science Writer From That’s Weird!: Awesome Science Mysteries , Kendall F. Haven (2001)
• “Investing in people is the single most important thing in the knowledge economy. Traditionally, wealth was defined by land and natural resources. Today the most important resources is between our ears.” Barack Obama Remarks by President Obama at Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Town Hall, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (April 27, 2014)
• “You can’t manage knowledge – nobody can. What you can do is to manage the environment in which knowledge can be created, discovered, captured, shared, distilled, validated, transferred, adopted, adapted and applied.” Chris Collison and Geoff Parcell Learning to Fly – Practical Knowledge Management from Leading and Learning Organizations (2005) p. 24-25
• “The Information Age offers much to mankind, and I would like to think that we will rise to the challenges it presents. But it is vital to remember that information — in the sense of raw data — is not knowledge, that knowledge is not wisdom, and that wisdom is not foresight. But information is the first essential step to all of these.” Arthur C. Clarke, Science Fiction Writer, Inventor, Futurist As quoted in ‘Humanity will survive information deluge — Sir Arthur C Clarke’, OneWorld South Asia (December 5, 2003)

Leadership quotes for presentations

• “Successful people become great leaders when they learn to shift the focus from themselves to others.” Marshall Goldsmith, Leadership Coach What Got You Here Won’t Get You There (2010) p. 72
• “Ultimately a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus.” Martin Luther King, Jr. From an address at the Episcopal National Cathedral, Washington D.C. (March 31, 1968)
• “You can’t lead from behind your desk, you’ve got to get out in front, be visible, for your customers as well as for your employees. During a crisis, you’ve got to be calm and confident. You’ve got to always tell the truth. And you’ve got to be willing to face a crisis, not shy away from it, embrace it.” Geisha Williams, Fortune 500 Businesswoman ‘Geisha Williams: Set Your Sights High, Take Charge and Keep the Lights On’, Leadership California , Carol Caley (February 17, 2014)
• “Courage is the main quality of leadership, in my opinion, no matter where it is exercised. Usually it implies some risk — especially in new undertakings. Courage to initiate something and to keep it going, pioneering and adventurous spirit to blaze new ways, often, in our land of opportunity.” Walt Disney As quoted in The Disney Way Fieldbook,  Bill Capodagli and Lynn Jackson (2000) p. 147
• “Embrace what you don’t know. What you don’t know can become your greatest asset. It ensures that you will absolutely be doing things different from everyone else.” Sarah Blakely, Founder of Spanx ’10 Lessons I Learned from Sara Blakely That You Won’t Hear in Business School,’ Forbes , Kathy Caprino (May 23, 2012)

Mistakes and failure quotes for presentations

• “We tell our young managers: ‘Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. But make sure you don’t make the same mistake twice’” Akio Morita, Co-Founder of Sony Corporation As quoted in The Sony Vision , Nick Lyons (1976) p. 101
• “There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.” Oprah Winfrey Commencement address at Harvard University (30 May 2013)
• “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” Suzy Kassem, Author Rise Up And Salute The Sun (2010)
• “Don’t put limitations on yourself. Other people will do that for you. Don’t do that to yourself. Don’t bet against yourself. And take risk. NASA has this phrase that they like, “Failure is not an option.” But failure has to be an option. In art and exploration, failure has to be an option. Because it is a leap of faith. And no important endeavor that required innovation was done without risk. You have to be willing to take those risks. … In whatever you are doing, failure is an option. But fear is not.” James Cameron, Film Director From ‘Before Avatar … a curious boy’, presented at TED2010 (February 13, 2010)
• “I view this year’s failure as next year’s opportunity to try it again. Failures are not something to be avoided. You want to have them happen as quickly as you can so you can make progress rapidly.” Gordon Moore, Engineer and Co-Founder of Intel Corporation ‘An Interview with Gordon Moore’, Ingenuity 5 (2), Laura Schmitt (May 2000)

Planning and strategy quotes for presentations

• “Chance favours the prepared mind.” Louis Pasteur, Microbiologist, Chemist and Inventor Lecture, University of Lille (December 7, 1854)
• “The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do. ” Michael Porter, Economist, Researcher, Author ‘What is strategy?’ Harvard Business Review  (November 1996) p. 70
• “Business strategy is the battleplan for a better future.” Patrick Dixon, Author and Business Consultant Building a Better Business (2005)
• “Managers who extensively plan the future get the timing wrong. Sometimes they arrive to market too early and so must wait for the demand to catch up. Sometimes they are too late and so must accelerate to rejoin the future.” Shona L. Brown and Kathleen M. Eisenhardt Competing on the Edge: Strategy as Structured Chaos (1998) p.135
• “Strategy is about stretching limited resources to fit ambitious aspirations.” K. Prahalad, Organizational Theorist As quoted in The Wal-Mart Way , Don Soderquist (2005) p. 178

We hope you found what you needed from our list of presentation quotes! If you’re about to paste that quote onto your deck, but want to know how to format it to perfection, check out our guide to advanced typography in PowerPoint .

Have an idea for a quote we should add to the list? Is there a key theme you want some presentation quotes for? Let us know in the comments below!

Shay O’Donnell

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Thanks for this post.It’s a helpful quotes for enhance slides.

Glad it was useful Amit! Thank you for your feedback.

it helped me a lot… thanks!

Amazing Quotes. Really Good. These quotes help me making my presentation perfect Thanks & Regard vinita

Thanks for this post

thanks for information

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January 16, 2023

Quotes: How to Mark them in a Presentation

Quotations are included in many a speech and presentation, for any number of reasons. We've weighed in on why you might not want to go with a quote. And there are plenty of online sources ready to help you use quotation marks correctly in a printed document.

When you do use quotes in a speech or presentation, you can avoid a few common missteps by pausing to consider these three things.

1. PowerPoint punctuation

For some reason, we see a lot of unnecessary quotation marks on PowerPoint slides. For example, one speaker we recently worked with had created something common in many workplaces, a toolbox for her healthcare co-workers. Of course, she did not mean a toolbox that contained a wrench and hammer. She had created an app that contained a number of forms and guides that her co-workers could use every day.

Every time she referred to the toolbox on a PowerPoint slide, she put it in quotation marks – something that not only seemed unnecessary to us but that we felt undermined her presentation. Why? One, it wasn't a title. And two, it was clear she didn't mean a handyman's toolbox. 

Here's what Grammarly says about putting quotation marks around a single word used in this way:

Quotation marks around single words can occasionally be used for emphasis, but only when quoting a word or term someone else used. Usually, this implies that the author doesn't agree with the use of the term.

When reviewing your deck, look out for unneeded quotation marks. Yes, use them if you are directly quoting another person's words. But take care for anything else. While it can feel like emphasis to you, it can feel like you're mocking yourself, especially to the punctuation snobs in the room. 

2. Air quotes as a gesture

Speakers often throw these in when they're quoting someone, to give the audience a visual cue that the speaker's words aren't their own.

We're fans of descriptive gestures , but before holding up both hands and executing the air quote sign, be sure it's going to come across the way you intend.

Air quotes – sometimes also called finger quotes – tend to suggest you don't agree with or are being sarcastic about what you're saying. So when you put air quotes around "genius," for example, you don't appear to be quoting someone else's words about a person. You seem to be suggesting the person is anything but brilliant.

Not sure what we mean? This funny video  depicts the problem (though if you're f-bomb sensitive, you might not want to click on that link.)

Instead of using the air quote gesture, there are better ways to show you're using a quote in a speech. Read on. 

3. Quotes when speaking

There are a few techniques for indicating that you're quoting someone else in your speech. It's an important distinction to make, too. Audiences want to know which are your words and which belong to someone else.

One way is to begin with quote  and conclude with end quote . It’s not elegant, and it works. For example:

Shakespeare said, quote: "Expectation is the root of all heartache." End quote.

A variation on that is to use quote-unquote . It might go something like this:

Shakespeare said that expectation, quote unquote, "is the root of all heartache."

Another, less hit-them-over-the-head approach is to state the source, deliver the quote, and pause deliberately after the quote has ended. You might further clarify the difference with a transitional phrase. So you could have something like:

Shakespeare said "Expectation is the root of all heartache." [pause]  Or as I've modified this idea after years of dating: Low expectations are the key happiness.  

One way you can visually cue an audience that you're quoting someone else is to have a card or piece of paper with the quote on it. You then pick up the card, read the quote from it, and put the card down when you've finished the quote. This bit of theater gives a clear indication that you are presenting someone else's words. So with this approach, you'd:

Say: Shakespeare said...

Do: Lift up a card so the audience can see it, perhaps even point to the line with the index finger of your other hand as you read from the card....

Say: Expectation is the root of all heartache.

Do: Put the card down after you finish reading the quote.

Considerations for any quotes you may use

If you are going to present a quote on PowerPoint or in a speech, a shorter quote—or an excerpt from a longer statement—is going to be easier to manage. Ask yourself if you need the entire sentence on the screen, for example, to make your point. 

When attributing your quote, think about the source and how to set it up. Is the person you're quoting a household name (Shakespeare, Oprah) or a person known to only a few in your audience?

If the name doesn't carry instant recognition, it helps to provide very brief context ("an acclaimed expert on efficiency," for example) when you name your source.

Don't get sucked into the idea that every speech and presentation needs a quote. Your ideas and your words can be enough.

If you do choose to use a quote, be sure to take these research steps into account before deploying it.

And if you're delivering an academic presentation, here's advice on how to deliver quotes with citations in that realm.

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• Faculty Interlibrary Loan Request Form
• Professional Development Databases
• Publishing Guide
• Professional Development Guides (AAOPD)
• Rasmussen University
• Library and Learning Services Guides

APA 7th Edition Guide

• Citing Sources in PowerPoint Presentations
• APA Paper Basics
• Preventing Plagiarism
• Academic Integrity Video
• Setting Up Your Paper
• In-Text Citations
• eTextbooks and Course Materials
• Images & Audiovisual Media
• Legal Resources
• Personal Communications & Secondary Sources
• Missing Reference Information
• Annotated Bibliographies
• Finding Help
• Additional Resources from the APA

Citing Sources in PowerPoint Slides

• PowerPoint - In-text Citations
• PowerPoint - References List

Note:  APA does not have specific rules about the format of PowerPoint slides.  Rasmussen University does have recommended guidelines outlined below and in the attached PPT presentation.

PowerPoint slides  may   need citations, depending on what type of information is included on the slide.

If the text on a slide is a quote (someone else's words, verbatim) or someone else's ideas in the presenter's own words, then a citation is needed.

If the text placed on a slide is simply a word or phrase that represents a topic that the presenter will be discussing in greater detail, then a citation is not needed.

The table below includes two PowerPoint slides (left side). The column on the right tells whether or not the information would need to be cited and why.

Speaker Notes:  Some assignments require text in the Speaker Notes area of the PowerPoint slide. If information from a source is quoted, summarized, or paraphrased in that area, an in-text citation and reference will likely be required. Ask your instructor for clarification.

• Presentations & APA Citation Style at Rasmussen University Great resource to share with students if they are having struggles with APA in PPTs.

PowerPoint Slides - References

There are two ways to include the Reference list in your presentation:

• Coordinating reference lists are typically handed out during or after the presentation either in print if presenting in person, or electronically if presenting online. This is the preferred method of including a Reference list of the sources cited in your slide deck.
• Include a Reference list in the last slide of the presentation. This is an acceptable method if there are not many resources to include. Avoid adding so many resources to the list that the type is not legible to those attending the presentation

Creating the Reference List Slide

• If you use outside sources in your presentation (noted in your in-text citations), you must cite those sources on a References page/slide.
• Your Reference page can be created in NoodleTools, exported to Microsoft Word, and distributed or submitted with your slides to those who attend your presentation. Ask your instructor if they would like a Reference slide as the last slide of your presentation. Note that you may need more than one slide depending on how many references are needed.

See the slide deck below for more information.

• << Previous: Missing Reference Information
• Next: Annotated Bibliographies >>
• Last Updated: May 7, 2024 10:19 AM
• URL: https://guides.rasmussen.edu/apa

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Related Resources

If you’re interested in quote software, these related resources may help.

Learn how to create a product library, deliver personalized quotes, and design a quote approval process.

Watch the quotes lesson

Explore how to use the quotes tool to create complete, informative quotes.

Read the create quotes article

See how managers can review and approve quotes before they're sent to prospects.

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